Wake Me Up
by Paranoixa
Summary: Beacon Hills is a magnet for trouble. But when a little girl arrives, trouble takes on a whole new meaning. Who, or what, is this girl and where did she come from? And why is there a bounty on her head with more zeros anyone can count? Slowly, she fills the hole in Derek's heart . But how far will he go to save her when her past catches up with her?
1. In The Beginning (LIGHTSWITCHES!)

**I am honestly starting to think the universe DOESNT want me to post this FanFic. I've been trying to since last year! Hardy har har, and by last year I'm mean like September. But still! Every time I've tried to , I either accidentily delete it, it doesnt save, or I hate the plot and end up deleting it myself. Anyway, enjoy my FIRST(of hopefully MANY) Teen Wolf FanFic. Because, lets be honest, who doesnt love our little sourwolf? Or his face. ESPECIALLY his face. Oh yeah...**

_Everything happens for a reason._

_Birds sing because they like irratating people who want "just five more minutes". Dogs pee on fire hydrants because they see it as a sign of defiance to "the man." Kids like to play with toys cause they like breaking shit (just cause they're good at it.)_

_Little girls have forty hundred million dollar bounties on their head because..._

_Well... Derek will leave that one for you to figure out._

Hybrid.

That was the only word that could best descibe her.

When Derek had first gone out to figure out what was causing all of the wailing in the forest, he hadnt expected to find a hybrid that looked to be no more than eight years old.

She had white hair that spilled across the forest floor,silver eyes that sparkled in the late afternoon sunlight, a thick tail with black spots, ears that stood on top of her head, strange and unknown symbols crawling up her legs and arms, a necklace that had a talisman with crystals forming the different stages of the moon on it, and had caramel colored skin. Except for the designs, her entire body was what looked like a body suit made of leaves sewn together.

"Hey" Derek said, eventually.

The girl stared at him for moment before the crystals flashed. "Hi" she said.

Derek took a deep breath and looked at her. Her muscles were tense and sweat was popping up on her forehead. "I'm not gonna hurt you" he reassured her.

She looked up to him and smiled a painful smile. "It's not that."  
Then he realized she was holding onto her stomach. "Are you hurt" he asked.

She brushed some of her hair aside and revealed a deep looking gash along her stomach.

"Oh, God. What... What happened?"

"Something attacked me. I didnt see them."

The Shadow Master. Their newest threat, only ten times worse than anything else they've ever seen all put together. They couldnt see him, couldnt hear him, couldnt even smell him. Sneaky bastard.

"Was that you last night?"  
"Was what me last night?"

"Crying. I heard someone crying."

"Yeah. That was me." She walked over to a tree and pressed her back against it, squeezing her eyes tight and her breathing becoming heavy.

"Are you alright?"  
"No." She began to sway on her feet and soon lost her grip on the tree. Derek stepped forward, ready to catch her, just as she reached the ground.

. . .

The smart, and legal, thing to do seemed to be to bring her to the nearest hospital. But, seeing that nine of ten hospitals usually dont care too much for mutants, Derek ended up calling Deaton.

"Dont bring her here" he said.

"You're an animal doctor. She's an animal." Derek glanced at her strapped in her seat belt. "Sort of. So fix her up."  
"Well, unless you can get her to look human, keep her away from here. I've got these damn inspectors all over my ass and they wont appreciate it if they find out I'm hoarding the SuperNatural."

Derek sighed and turned the car around. "So what the hell am I supposed to do now?"

"Take her back to you house. I'll try and stop by later. Until then, just try to cover up her wounds. Put some pressure on them. And put some clothes on her."  
He snorted. "Obviously."

"I'll try to be there around eight. Fingers crossed."  
"You deserve to be fired" Derek mumbled before hanging up.

. . .

"Well, I've never seen anything like this before" Deaton said, as he finished wrapping the bandages around her stomach. "She doesnt look like how you guys normally look. She looks like a... like a... a-"

"A hybrid" Derek offered just as she began to woke up.

Deaton brought his hands back once he saw her hair and tail puffing up in agitation. "Hey, sweetie. Are you alright?"  
She growled and hopped to her feet before crashing to the ground.

"Take it easy" he advised. "You're hurt pretty badly.

She sighed but nodded, allowing him to help her back up on the couch.

"What's your name" Derek asked.

"Stony."  
Derek turned to Deaton.

"Is she gonna be okay?"

"She should be. Her wounds should have been fatal but given that she's still alive, I think she has... healing abilities."

He nodded. "Do you have anywhere to go?"  
"What are these things"

"What things?"

"These" she asked, tugging at Derek's orange shirt and blue jeaned shorts.

"...Clothes?"  
"'Clothes'? What do they do?"  
"Keep you from getting arrested for public nudity."  
She cocked her head to the side in confusion.

"Derek?"  
He turned around and saw Deaton looking at him from the kitchen area. "Can I talk to you?"  
He sighed but joined him. "What is she?"  
"I'm not sure. She looks like of... wild."  
"What gave it away? The hair, or the excessive animal parts?"  
"I'm serious... I'm gonna need you to look after her."  
Derek scowled. "No. Not in a million years."

"Derek-"

"Why cant she stay with you?"  
"I ain't letting that thing in my house. I dont know what she got. I'm gonna have to run some more tests."  
"What kind of crap is that? And why's she gotta stay with us anyway?"  
"Where else is she gonna go" Deaton snapped. "You saw her. She was obviously a ferile child."

Derek looked through the window and saw Stony holding the T.V. remote and watching it curiously. "Okay, you've got a point."  
Deaton raised his eyebrows questioningly. "Well..."  
"...One week. She stays for one week. Then she's your problem."  
"_She_ has ears, you know" Stony said, leaning against the back of the couch.

Derek groaned.

"I'll come back to tomorrow to run some tests" Deaton repeated. "Let me know if her wounds get worse."  
. . .

"Hey, what's your name?"  
Derek yelped and tumbled out of bed. "What" he sputtered.

"What's your name" Stony repeated, cocking her head to the side innocently.

He growled and spat "Derek."

"Derek? That's a funny name." She frowned in confusion and pointed to his bed. "Is that your nest?"  
Derek sighed. "Sure" he mumbled. "Now go back to yours."  
"I cant. It's not here. Can I make a new one in here?"  
"No."

Her eyes lit up and she ran across the room. "Ooh, what's that thing?"

"What are you doing now?" Then the lights were on.  
She giggled and pulled the light switch down. "On, off, on, off, on, off, on, off. Ooh, this is fun! You wanna give it a try?"  
"No. Now go to sleep." Derek pulled the covers above his head.  
"I cant."

"Why not?"  
"Cause it's my turn to take watch."  
"Take watch for what?"  
"The foxes. Those guys can be pretty sneaky, you know. They might take your food. They do that a lot."  
"Well, you dont have to worry about that cause they're arent to many of those around here" Derek explained.

Stony blinked in confusion. "So what am I supposed to do?"  
"I have an idea." Derek pulled the covers back down.

"Really?"  
"Yeah. Go. To. Sleep."

Stony's shoulders fell but she did as she was told and walked to his door. But then she stopped once she got in the doorway, her back facing him as she curled up, watching the hallway. Derek chuckled and laid back down. _Some habits never die._

**Okay, so Braeden and Derek arent going out and I changed Derek's house around a little. Hope you guys enjoy! If you did, send a link of this to your friends. Even if you dont reply or favorite of follow(though, I wouldnt mind those), just spread the word! It's hard enough getting my old stories out there.**


	2. Lost In The Mall

Derek scowled and crossed his arms. "We need to set a few ground rules."

Stony sneezed and popped out of his sock drawer. "What are you talking about?"

"This" he snapped, gesturing at the socks spilling over the floor. "This is what I'm talking about! What do you have to gain from this?!"  
"Well, _excuse me _for checking your cave for foxes" she said, pouting.

"That is not a cave! That is a sock drawer!"  
She blinked. "A what?"  
"Nevermind. Now just sit down and dont say anything."  
Stony sat down. "Okay."  
He frowned.

"Sorry."  
"First rule: we dont have to save food. I can just go to the store and buy some. Cause if you do, it gets bad and moldy." He reached in another drawer and pulled out shirt holding seven strawberries . "Understood?"  
She nodded, though she looked deeply confused.

"Second rule: do not leave this house without my permission. If you do, I will handcuff you to a chair. Got it?"  
She nodded.

"Third rule, and probably the most important: Keep you hands off my stuff."  
Stony pouted again. "But what if a fox is stealing your stuff? Then I'll have to touch it to get it back."

Derek took a deep breath. "Stony?"  
"Derek?"  
"I need you to listen to me _very_ carefully."

"Okay."

Derek looked at her, not noticing her tail stand and her fangs creeping out. "THERE ARE NO FOXES IN HERE!"

"DEREK!"

"Except for that one" he muttered, walking over to the window. He opened it and leaned out, obviously pissed off at the group of teenagers under it. "What the hell are you doing here?"  
"Deaton said you kidnapped a little girl" Stiles said, cheekily. "Seriously, Derek? I know you're desperate and all but, God, that's a new low, even for you."

He narrowed his eyes. "I didnt kidnap her. And what does that have to do with you?"  
"We figured you might need some help" Kira said.

Derek looked behind him and saw Stony hissing from under his bed. _Foxes. Damn._

"You gonna let us in or not" Malia mumbled.

. . .

It took some convincing and a crowbar but after fifteen minutes, and Stony was positive that Kira wasnt going to steal her hiden stash of cheerios(that Derek quickly confiscated) and chew her head off, she crawled out from under Derek's bed.

"What is she" Stiles asked, watching as the rest of the pack lead her to his living room.

"I'm not sure" Derekanswered. "Some kind of cat, I guess."  
"Arent cats and foxes in the same gene pool?"  
"Probably. The ones she knows must be different from the ones we know."

"What are you gonna do with her?"  
He shrugged. "She's staying here for a week then Deaton's gonna find something to do with her."

"Really?"  
"What?"  
"I dunno. I just figured you didnt like kids."  
"I dont. But she doesnt have anywhere else to go."  
"You said she didnt have any clothes when you found her" Stiles said, turning to face him after a minute passed.

"Yeah."

"And Deaton thinks she's ferile, right?"  
He raised an eyebrow and asked "you dont think she is?"  
"No, I do." He watched with curiousity as Stony chased a red light around the room from Liam's pen. "I do. It's just her necklace."

"Her necklace?"  
"If she's ferile, she must not be _completley_ ferile. Some people that are ferile wear jewelry. I just wonder which kind she is."  
"She talks too" Derek noted. "Wild people shouldnt know how to talk."

"So, she must have been around other people. Wild people, but people."  
"Okay, so what are you getting at?"  
"You find out who those people are" Stiles explained. "And you've got her off your back."  
Derek frowned and leaned against the wall, thinking deeply. Which would be easier? Just watching after her or helping her get back home? At the moment, helping her get home seemed easier.

"And how do I do that" he asked, not meeting his eyes.

Stiles slapped him across the back. "That's up to you to figure out, big guy."  
Derek scowled and slapped his arm away. "Stiles."  
He rolled his eyes. "Do I have to spell it out. You need to get her to trust you."  
"How does that help?"  
"If she trusts you, she'll talk to you. And if she talks to you, she'll let something slip. And when that happens, you come to me."  
Derek frowned and let this sink in. After a few seconds passed, he finally sighed and gave up, his eyes pleading(but still looking pretty badass) for Stiles to help him out.

Stiles crossed his arms, smiling smugly. "Or in other words, try not to be an asshole for once."

He was about to say something witty and sarcastic when there was a sudden crash. He turned to the living room and found his glass coffee table shattered. The pack looked up, saw Derek glaring at them, and all pointed at each other.

. . .

"You're friends are nice" Stony noted, crawling into her chair.

"They're not my friends" Derek snorted, stirring the spaghetti in the pot.

"Why not?"  
"Cause they're not."  
"They seem like it."  
"How?"

"They came over here to help you. People who care about you help."  
"That's a lie. Strangers help each other all the time. That doesnt mean they care about them."  
"Why else would they?"  
"They'd probably want a reward."  
"Some of them. But others actually care about the person they're helping."  
Derek rolled his eyes and turned off the gas on the stove. "I seriously doubt that."  
"Why?"  
"Because it's not something that people do. You help people to get something in return."  
"Really?"  
"Yeah. It's like the law."  
"... So what do you want?"

At the least, you could say Derek was caught off guard. He nearly lost his grip on the spoon and turned to face her. "What?"  
"What do you want?"  
"What are you talking about?"  
"You. You said people help people to get something in return. You helped me. So you must want something."

"What do you want?"  
"I... Nothing. I dont want anything."  
Stony cocked her head to the side and held out her bowl as he spooned some spaghetti into it. "But you just said-"

"Okay" he interrupted. "So, it's not always like that. But most of the time it is. And even when it's not, they'd feel better if you did give them something."  
"Okay, so your friends want something so they can feel better?"  
You've got to be really stupid to let a five year old confuse you the way Stony had confused Derek. "Well, no. They just... kind of... sometimes... it's not always... it can be... it's... it's complicated" he finally growled, sitting down. Maybe he was being silly, getting upset because he couldnt answer a question that he'd basically already given the answer to but he was still mad. He didnt like feeling like someone knew something he didnt. Like they had some kind of a power of him.

He looked up into Stony's face, ready to tell her to get the hell out. She'd gotten away from the Shadow Master, she could find her way home. But he never got the chance because, when he looked up, he didnt find some cheeky monkey smiling as if she were God Almighty. Instead, he found a girl whose eyes were kind of misty, as if she werent really there. He dropped his fork in surprise and asked "Stony? Stony, what's wrong?"  
She blinked and looked at him. "Nothing. Why?"  
Derek narrowed his eyes. "If this is some kind of a game..."

_Or in other words, try not to be an asshole for once._

Derek thought really hard. The next couple of words that were ready to slide off of his tongue werent all that polite. And he _did _need her to trust him. If she could tell Kira was a fox, then she could probably tell he was a werewolf. And if he pissed her off(which was likely to happen given that he had a thing for pissing people off), then his secret would be known to the world. People wouldnt take her seriously, but that didnt mean the bounty hunters wouldnt.

"Derek?"  
He snapped out of his thoughts and looked at her. "What?"  
"You were saying something."

_You need to get her to trust you._  
"We need to get you some new clothes."  
. . .

"Derek, I don't need these" Stony said, walking out of the dressing room, wearing a yellow dress with white flower patterns.

"Well, you cant run around in my stuff" Derek mumbled. "Turn."  
She sighed but turned. "Why not?"  
"What did I say rule number three was?"

"Don't touch your stuff" she said.

"Does that fit?"  
She blinked.

"Is it a little tight?"

"No."  
"Good. Now come here."

He leaned in the cart and pulled out a pair of blue overalls with an orange pocket on it.

"Now you said this fit?"  
"Yeah."  
He put it back and pulled out some blue jeans. "These?"  
"Those are fine."  
"This" he asked, holding up a purple shirt with a cat on it.

"Mm hm."  
"And this?" He pulled out a baby blue dress with clouds on it.  
"That's fine."  
A blue checkered jacket, some converse, some underwear and socks later, and Stony looked like she was ready to drop dead.

"Can we go now" Stony whined.

"Wait." He looked through the cart then back at her. "I think that's everything."  
"So are we done?"  
"Yeah, we're done. Take that off walk over here when you're done."

Five minutes later~

"This place is huge" Stony marveled as they walked through the mall.

"It's supposed to be that way."

A man bumped into Derek and stepped on Stony's toe, making her get a little behind.

Derek looked back and said "catch up!"  
"I'm going as fast as I can" she shouted over the noise.

He sighed and pushed through the sea of people, snatching her hand when he reached her.

"Try not to get sweeped away" he mumbled.

"Okay."  
In retrospect, he should have known better than to take her to the mall. Thousands of kids got lost in the mall everyday. But he's idiot who's only concerned for getting this lunatic out of his hair so he doesnt think about that. Three or four more times they get seperated. On the last time, Derek doesnt find her.

"Stony" he called.

"..."  
He frowned and looked around him. Black hair, red hair, gold hair, blue hair(?), but no white hair. "Stony!"

Look for a little girl wearing clothes that look like they're about to swallow her whole. Shouldnt be too hard right? Wrong. The crowd is so packed together that he can barely even see his feet. Derek turned around and started calling her name again, his wolf howling. Didnt she hear him? How far could the crowd have carried her? Or did she just get squished in the whole process? That last scenario set Derek's heart pounding and made him get more than just a little nervous. If she was lost, then someone would find her and take her to the front desk, he reasoned. But he wasnt sure if she'd know what to do. What of she ran away and got even more lost or some pedophile found her or-

Derek pushed the thought from his head and pushed harder against the people around him, growing more anxious by the minute.


	3. How To Give A Cat A Bath: Dont

"So."  
Derek, covered head to toe in suds and mud(**irnoy**), looked over to Stony and glared. "What?"  
"Do you usually spend your Friday nights behind bars or is this just a one time thing?"  
"I dunno" he shrugged. "I usually get arrested on Tuesdays."  
"Really" she asked, rattling the bars to their cell. "I always thought that was a Monday kind of thing."

. . .

_Three hours earlier ~_

"Stony! Stony! Where are you?"

Derek sighed and leaned against the wall. How do you lose a kid you've only had for one day? That's gotta be some kind of a record or something.

_Alright_, he thought, forcing himself to take deep breaths._ Stay calm. _

He looked around him and stared into the crowd. There was no doubt in his mind that the current of people had probably swept her away. Alright. Given that she was most likely far from her original home, it was possible that she'd been in a situtation like this before. _She's been through this. _So where would she go?

Scenarios started flashing through his head, like a black and white movie. Trampled. Kidnapped. Stuck. Asking random people for help.

_She's probably fine._

_She's a little kid. _

Little kids didnt usually realize a bad situtation when faced with one so they'd probably go do whatever the hell they liked to do. So, lost in a mall, they'd go look for something they like.

_What do little kids like?_

Toys. Obviously. So he went to the toy aisle.

Which was probably a waste of time and energy. Because again, for like the billionth time, FERILE. What the hell was she going to do with a toy? Other than stare at it for a little bit then get bored and go mess with something else. After walking around there for a while, just in case she actually DID go there, he left and thought of his next destination.

Candy. Kids like candy.

So he went to the candy aisle. And he was right. Sort of. There were at least ten or thirteen kids there, all lost most likely, peeling the wrappers off and shoving them into their mouths. One saw him standing there and stared at him. And for a moment, he considered bringing them to the front desk cause he knew someone must have been worries sick about then. Then he left. He already one "bundle of joy" to deal with and he real didnt need a dozen more.

Shiny things.

So he went to the collectibles, almost a little afraid of what he might find. Not of her laying on the ground with a large shard of something ground into her head but of all the shit she probably broke. Do you have any idea how expensive stuff is nowadays...

Derek stopped rambling like an old coot and stood still.

Breaking shit. Of all things, that was probably their favorite things to do. Right next to shiny things. Shiny and breakable.

Glass.

He broke into a sprint and ran straight towards the glass section.

And guess who was clinging to a shelf, reaching for a glass swan, her eyes and the crystals on her tailsman purple?

"Stony" he growled.

She turned to him, her eyes turning silver again, and lost her grip.

Derek raced to her but found she landed perfectly on her feet, not showing any effect from falling six feet. He paused and stood there, waiting for an explanation.

She just smiled wide and said "didnt anyone ever tell you a cat always lands on its feet."

CRASH!

The glass swan fell from his shelf and hit the ground, shattering into thousands of pieces.

"Glass" she continued. "Does not."  
He clenched his fist and looked around. Nobody in sight.

"Come on" he growled, snatching her hand. Then he turned around, remebering how they'd gotten seperated in the first place, and told her to hold onto one of the shoppinf bags. "Tug if you get pulled away."  
Stony sunk her claws into the bag and hugged it close.

Derek raised an eyebrow but started to walk away nonetheless.

He was at the counter when he noticed the dark purple hat with the red stripe around it. "What you got there" he asked.

"A hat. Can I get it?"

"Why?"  
"Well, so no one asks about my hair. Plus, it's cute."  
"I guess" he muttered, putting the bags on the machine. "Speaking of that mess, we need to get it cut."  
Her hands went up to her head, which he'd (unsuccessfully) tried to put into a ponytail. "You're not cutting my hair!"

He rolled his eyes and grabbed his bags before grabbing her hand again.

. . .

They'd taken the road through the forest. It had rained the night before and there was mud everywhere. Even when they made it to his house, the substance was everywhere. And Derek, being the neat freak he was, didnt want that mess anywhere inside.

"Watch your step" he warned as they walked through the mud to his door. Then he heard a loud splat and sighed. "Please tell me that wasnt you."

She giggled and flapped her arms, making a mud angel. "This is fun! Dont you just love mud?"  
"No."  
"Why not?"  
"Because it's messy and gets all over the place."  
"You say that like it's a bad thing."  
He sighed and opened the door. Then he held his hand out when she tried to move past the door mat. "Dont. Move."  
She nodded and sat down carefully as he disappeared into another room. Pretty soon she heard water running, causing her hair to stand on end.

"Stony" Derek called, walking back out, his sleeves drawn up. "Come here."  
"No" she pouted, crossing her arms.

"...No?"  
"No."  
"No?"  
"No" she said, holding her chin up high.

He shrugged. "Alright." Then he took her by her waist.

"NO!"  
Derek sighed and dragged his foot into the ground, surprised by her strenght. "You have to take a bath!"  
"No" she argued. "No, I dont want to!"  
"I dont care! You're covered in mud!

"NO!" Stony crawled up his back and fell to the floor. Then she, on all floors, ran down the hall.  
"Get back here!" he growled, chasing after her. He rounded the corner and tackled her.

"Let me go!"  
"NO! You're filthy!"  
"I dont care! I dont like baths!"  
Derek grabbed her under her shoulders and restrained her arms and feet, groaning in disgust as he realized she was covering him in mud. "It's just water!"  
"No, there's something wrong with that water!"  
"You havent even seen it!"  
"I dont have to! I can smell it!"  
Derek groaned and pulled harder, finally making it to the bedroom.

"ARGH!"  
Stony kicked his shin and crashed to the floor, making a dash to the floor, only to have him grab her by her shirt, dangling in mid air. Then he drobbed her in the tub filled with suds.

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO" she hissed, her fur looking pretty sad as it clung to her. She whimpered and stared at Derek, her eyes looking mighty sad.

"Shut up" he muttered, wincing from his bruised shin and crouched down before grabbing a bar of soap and handing it to her. "Here."  
She stared at it and smacked it out of his hands.

Derek glared at her and turned around, reaching for the soap.

"_Here_" he repeated. Stony, making a poker face, took it and rubbed it against her pinky nail.  
"Give me that" he growled, leaning in the bath, realizing his mistake too late as she hopped on his back, pushing him into the bath.

"Ha! How do you like it!?" Stony giggled and ran out of the bathroom.

Derek sighed and splashed the water just as the doorbell rang.

"What now" he muttered crawling out of the tub.

When he looked out of the window and saw the police crusier parked in his driveway, he thought it was because of the swan. Then the police officer stepped out and walked over to the van he'd... borrowed from Peter. "Shit."

The officer opened his mouth to say something then froze and took in his appearance, soaking wet with suds in his hair and on his clothes while also being covered in mud. "Um..."  
"What" Derek snapped.

"Do you go by the name of Derek Hale" he asked, looking really confused.

"Maybe."  
He narrowed his eyes but continued anyway. "Do you know anyone by the name of Peter Hale?"  
_Dammit._

"...Yes."

He pointed his head outside. "Is that van yours?"

Okay, so maybe he hadnt TECHNICALLY asked his Uncle for the van but come on, the nearest mall was like five miles from his house. "Um..."  
He walked behind Derek and put the handcuffs on his wrists. "You're being arrested for grand thef auto. These are your Miranda Rights. You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say or do can and will be used against you in court of law. You will have the right to an attourney. If you cannot afford an attourney, one will be appointed to you. Do you understand these rights as they have been read to you?"

Derek groaned and said, through gritted teeth, "yes, I do." as he walked him out of his house.  
"Derek?"  
_God fucking dammit._

The officer paused and stared at the little girl, also covered in suds and mud. "Who's this" he asked.

Derek bit his lip. Had to choose his words carefully. Surely, Peter had told him he didnt have any kid. So how did he get one in the last twenty four hours?

"Derek's my cousin" Stony explained, surprising Derek as her heartbeat remained the same. Then she frowned. "Derek, who's this?"  
"Sweetheart" the officer said, bending down a little bit to meet her at eye level. "I need you to answer some questions for me, alright?"  
"Where are you taking Derek?"  
"..." He looked to Derek.

"I was bad" he said, feeling stupid for admitting it. "So he's taking me to jail."  
She turned to the officer. "Derek's not bad. You cant take him anywhere."  
"...Would you feel better if you came along?"  
Stony looked up to Derek then nodded.

"Alright, then."

. . .

"You can make one phone call" the officer said as he locked Derek's cell. "Do you want it?"

"Yeah" he sighed, leaning against the wall.

"Phone's on that wall. I'll be back in a bit. Sit tight."  
He snorted. "Not like there's much else for me to do."  
When the man disappeared, Stony looked up to him.

"Sorry."  
He raised an eyebrow. "What?"  
"I'm sorry I kicked you in the shin" she apologized, looking in his eyes. "And pushed you in the tub. And got mud in your house. And got you arrested. And licked you."  
Derek sighed. "You didnt get me-wait you licked me?"  
She fiddled with her fingers though her eyes were still on him. "Yeah."  
"You know what? Forget it."  
"...Are you mad at me?"  
He walked over to the cell bars and leaned his head against them. "No" he admitted. "Irritated. And in WAY over my head. But not mad. For now."  
"...Promise?"  
"I promise."  
"Pinky swear?"  
He smiled a small smile and turned arond and bent down wrapping his pinky around hers, which was so small that it made him laugh louder. "You're alright" he said. "A pain in the ass. But alright."  
She looked up at him and smiled wide. "Mad as a hatter."  
"What?"  
"Mad as a hatter." She shrugged. "That's what my friends used to call me. That and I have a thing for hats. So they called me the Mad Hatter. Hatter. My friends call me Hatter."  
Derek looked at her and smiled. "Hello. Hatter."

**As you can tell from the ending, this will be from here on out kind of a crossover of Alice and Wonderland(2010) and Teen Wolf. I love the Mad Hatter! Besides, this is my dream FanFic. Been stuck in my head for months. Gonna be written like that, no matter who hates it. Shout outs to snoopcapybara and yvette. . Your support makes this a real dream come true. **


	4. I Wanna Be Badass Too

"I think we're getting there."  
Stiles looked up from his hamburger, mustard clinging to his chin. "What?"  
Derek sighed. "Hatter" he explained. "I think she trusts me."  
He shook his head. "No way" he argued. "Too soon. Been what, two or three days."

"Well, how long is this gonna take?"  
Stiles raised an eyebrow. "You seem eager to get rid of her."  
"I am. We've been through this."  
He shrugged and took a sip of his shake. "Just thought she was growing on you."

Derek looked over to the little girl curled up in a ball, in a pile of crayons, paper, stickers, tattoos, glitter, and paper hats Stiles had made for her. He had insisted that if Derek wanted to get her to trust him, he'd need to make his place feel welcoming. So he bought a wagon of kiddie stuff. Derek had scowled the whole time until they came across a plush toy kangaroo and bought it. Hatter now lay there with the kangaroo, that she named Mr. Smalls, under her arm and close to her chest. Derek sighed. This was turning out to be a lot more work than he thought it'd be.

"She's not" he eventually huffed, taking a bite out of his chicken patty.

Stiles rolled his eyes. "Riiiiiiiiight. And I'm Bill Clinton."  
"Obviously. At least he knew when to shut up."  
. . .

"Stiles said you have a tatoo."  
Derek chewed for a minute. Then looked over to Stiles. Then back to her. "I do."  
"What's a tattoo?"  
"That stuff on your arm."  
Hatter paled for a second, her tail puffing up, before confusion fell across her face. "What's it do?"  
"Nothing" Stiles piped up. "He just thinks it makes him look badass."  
"I want one! I wanna look badass!"  
Derek blinked. "What?"  
"I wanna look badass" she repeated, looking irratated that she had to. "Derek, make me look badass!"  
"Stop saying badass" Derek muttered.

"Why?"  
"...Cause it's a bad word."  
Stiles fell out of his chair, laughing just as the rest of the pack walked in.

"How come you get to say badass" Hatter pouted, crossing her arms.

"Because I said so" he replied.

"What's going on" Lydia asked, looking amused.

"It-it hurts" Stiles said between laughs.

Hatter pointed at Derek. "Derek wont let me be badass."  
Scott snickered.

"Come on, Derek" Peter said, mockingly. "Let her be badass."  
"Can I? Please, please, please, please, please, please, please?"  
"Nooooooooo."  
"Why nottttttttttttttt?"  
"BECAUSE YOU'RE NOT OLD ENOUGH TO BE BADASS!"

The rest of the pack burst into laughter as Hatter walked over to Scott.

"Make me badass" she demanded.

"What's-what's that mean?"  
"Give me a tattoo! Derek has one but he wont give me one." Her eyes widened. Then, along with her crystals, turned a sad shade of blue." You have one too! That's not fair! I'm the only one that's not badass!"  
"Peter's not badass" Malia snorted.

"Well, I know that! Just look at him."  
Peter scowled. "Hey."  
"Look" Stiles took her by the hand and lead her to the assorted pile of goods. He pulled up a tattoo of a star. "Follow me."  
Five minutes later ~

"DEREK!"

Derek sunk down into his chair.

"Derek, look."

He frowned and glanced over at her arm. Half of the star wasnt visible. He chuckled and asked "where's the rest of it?"

"I dunno. Stiles said wait three minutes."  
"You waited one minute" Stiles said from the kitchen.

"What's yours look like?"  
"Spirals."  
She stared at him, ignorantly.

"Circles, kind of."

"That's a stupid tattoo."  
He sighed and got up. "I'm going to sleep."  
Hatter looked out the window. "The sun's still smiling."  
He made a motion with his hand. "Clean up that stuff when you're done."  
"Where do I put it?"

"Anywhere. Just get rid of it."  
"...Anywhere?"  
"Anywhere."  
She smiled. "Okie dokie."

. . .

Three hours later.

"Do you know where she came from?"  
"No" Derek answered, his back to the sheriff.

Mr. Stilinski sighed. "Well, what are you gonna do?"

"Keep her here until next week. What happens after that, I dunno."

"Derek, you need to think about this. A lot of bad things have happened cause we underestimate people. We need to know everything there is to know about her. She could be another werewolf hunter for all we know."  
Derek snorted. "I highly doubt that."  
"Why?"  
"She had more of an... artistic approach."  
The sheriff raised an eyebrow. "What makes you say that?"  
Derek sighed and finally turned to face him, recieving a mouthful of laughter.

He probably should have been more clear when he told Hatter to put her junk "anywhere". When he woke up, he was vaguely aware of his face being itchy. He scratched and when he pulled his hand back, he found his nails coated with a sticky gunk. He rushed to the bathroom and gaped in the mirror. Every single inch of his face was covered in tattoos. Dragons, fire, water, whales, stars, rainbows, poines, the moon, flowers, cats, EVERYTHING. For a while, he was silent. Then he bellowed "HATTER!"  
"You said anywhere" she'd defended.

"Ha ha ha" Derek muttered to the sheriff.

"I'm sorry" he said, wiping his eyes. "Goodness. She's something of a handful, isnt she?"  
He crossed his arms and leaned against the counter. "I need you to look her up."  
"What's her name?"  
"Stony."  
"...Last name?"

He faultered. "She didnt say."

"Did you ask?"  
"No. She's... quick to react."  
His eyes widened.

"Not like that. But I've seen her when she's agitated."  
Mr. Stilinski glanced across the room at Hatter. "Her necklace. Anything on that?"

"Yeah. I think it matches her emotions and her eyes."  
"Why?"  
"How the hell should I know?" Derek sighed. "She's just so weird, she doesnt talk about anything, and she is ALWAYS excited."

The sheriff smirked. "Derek, I'll let you in on a little secret."  
His eyes widened. "What?"  
"She's gonna be WAY more excited when she reaches her teens.

**snoopycapybara**

**taylor .schaefer**

**yvette. **

**You guys are awesome. Story's not doing so hot. Do you mind telling your peeps about this story? Gosh, I'm so lame.**


	5. Yeah, You're Blind

"Derek."  
He sighed and glanced over to the little bundle of excitement. "Hatter."  
Hatter slowly rose her paws, revealing two plastic darts with a devious smile plastered across her face. "Wanna play darts?"

He raised an eyebrow. "I thought I told you to get rid of that stuff."  
"Well, I thought about it, but I figured you'd get mad if you woke up with darts in your eyes."  
A minute passed before he processed it. "What?"  
"LETS PLAY DARTS!" She snatched his hand and rushed him over to the wall where a clumsily drawn red target was drawn. "Alright, so here are the rules. You throw the dart and try to his the middle."  
Derek snorted. "Oh no, that sounds so hard."  
"I know. I've been trying this for days and I still cant get it."  
"Alright, what's the winner get?"  
She frowned. "I dunno. What would you like?"  
"You dont think you'll win?"  
"I told you, I'm terrible at this. So what would you like?"  
A week ago, Derek would have replied "to get you out of my hair." Even now, he was tempted to say it. Almost did say it. But something stopped him. And not his rationality that if he said that she'd burst into tears and he'd have to deal with that shit. "Winner washes the dishes."  
"Oh, boo! That's boring. Make it harder."  
"Fine. Loser has to stand on their head for five minutes."  
She grinned. "That sounds fun. Alright, throw a dart."  
He rolled his eyes and took a dart from her hand. He stood still, closed one eye, and threw it. It wasnt an exact bulleseye but pretty close. He turned to Hatter and watched her copy his movements and... compleltely miss. The dart landed all the way in the kitchen sink. Derek gaped and said "you missed. How could you miss? It's like eight feet in front of you." **(Totally stole that from Mulan)**

She shrugged and said "I told you, I'm no good at this."

"Obviously."

"Come on, lets go again. We have to plan ten times."  
Ten rounds later, Derek sighed and yanked a dart from the dart that had, GOD KNOWS HOW, landed in the vase behind him. He bent down to eye level in front of Hatter, who was already standing on her head.

"What" she questioned.

He raised a hand, holding up two fingers. "How many fingers am I holding up?"  
She squinted and stared at the blurry hand. "Eight."  
He frowned.

"What?"  
"It's nothing to freak out over. You're just blind. And who do you know has eight fingers on one hand?"  
"Well, one time-"  
"Nevermind." He walked over to the door. "Get your coat."  
"Where are we going?"  
"To get your eyes checked."

. . .

"Alright, tell me what letters you see" Deaton said. Then he paused. "Wait, can you read?"  
Hatter pouted. "Yes."  
"Read the letters" he repeated after an awkward moment passed.

"E,W,X,Y,Z,P,U,blurry thingy,Q,V, another blurry thingy."  
Derek and Deaton shared a look. "None of those letters are up there" Derek said.

Hatter shrugged. "So?"  
"Yeah, she's gonna need strong perscription" Deaton muttered, filing something out on a clipboard. "You sure you buying?" He seemed surprised that Derek "cared" enough to buy her glasses.

"Yeah. Cant have her walking around blind as a bat."  
"Alright." He turned to Hatter. "Sweetie, go pick out some glasses."  
She nodded and walked over to the table.

"It's almost incredible" Deaton observed. "I've never known the SuperNatuarl to have these kind of problems."  
"Niether have I."  
"She is very, very different."  
Derek looked down. He knew what was coming.

"Are you keeping her?"  
He inhaled deeply. "Sure."  
He smirked. "Really?"

He ignored him and watched the little girl walk back over to him. She had picked out a pair of huge purple square lensed glasses. Her silver eyes were wide with curiosity. "Oh wow" she said. "Everything is SOOOOOO much clearer. And you guys look WAAAAAAY different."  
Derek raised an eyebrow. This was the first time she was really seeing him. Then something else came to mind. "How long have things been that unclear?"  
"A long time. Forever, I think."

He narrowed his eyebrows. Then he turned to Deaton. "I'll send you a check" he muttered before he snatched her hand and walked out of his office.

"I call shotgun!" Hatter shouted as she ran to his car.

Derek crawled into the car and started the engine. "There's no one else to have it."  
She pouted and said "you're really letting the air out of my balloon right now. Hey, you wanna hear joke?"  
"No."  
"Why nooooooootttttttttttt?"  
"Cause I dont like jokes."  
"Who doesnt like jokes?"  
"Me."  
"Well, you have to like ONE joke. It's like illegal not to."  
"In case you havent noticed, I really couldnt give two fucks about the law."  
She gasped. "You swore!"  
Derek burst into a fit of laughter. She sounded EXACTLY like how his grandmother used to scold his father for that. And for once, remembering wasnt so painful. And so he kept laughing. He laughed even harder when Hatter started laughing with him. It had been a long time since he'd laughed this hard. He laughed so much tears streamed down his face. And it was a good laugh. He didnt want to think about his dead family. He just wanted to keep laughing. And so they kept laughing all the way home.

**I know that one was short but I HAD to put that one in. That's been in my head for like a month.**

**Shout outs to I Am The Eleventh, The MorbidGal, snoopycapybara, and yvette. . You guys are awesome! And remember, MOMMA LOVES REVIEWS, FAVS, and FOLLOWS!**


	6. The Black TearDrops

And then they went home and turned on the television.

Seventeen. Seventeen homicides in three hours.

Derek covered his mouth with his hand. From what they were showing, each of the victims all had one thing in common: three small black teardrops carefully painted across their cheek. The reporter went on to say that there was a manhunt put out for the murderer, the reward having a jaw dropping number of zeroes, and that anyone with information should call in. That was when he turned the T.V. set off.

"I know that" Hatter said softly.

Everyone turned to face her. "You do" Peter asked.

"Where do you know him from" Stiles asked, his eyes lighting up.

"I dont know _him_. But I know that sign."  
Scott raised an eyebrow. "What sign?"  
"The teardrops. It's the sign for this gang."  
Derek sighed deeply. So there was more than one. "What do you know about them?"  
"They're bad. And they usually get what they come for."  
Something clicked in his head. Something he couldnt clarify until later.

"And if they're killing people, they must want people to know. That or they're desperate. They usually work quietly. In the shadows, so no one starts raising eyebrows."

"So what do we do" Kiara asked, her eyes serious.

"I suppose we should start looking around" Peter offered.  
"Everybody and their mother is probably already out there, trying to get that reward" Liam muttered.

"So we'll have to look where no one would ever expect to look" Malia said.

"And where is that" Scott inquired.

"Where did they say the murders were?"  
"Midtown" Stiles piped up.

"Alright, so we look just outisde of Midtown, but not so close that anyone would realize what we're doing."  
"And what's outside of Midtown" Kiara wondered.

"That old werehouse and the well."  
They all glanced at each other, a plan slowly forming.

"Scott, Liam, Malia, you search by the well. If anyone sees you, beat it. Stiles, Kiara, I need you by the werehouse. I'll go ask Parrish and Stilinski if he knows anything" Derek ordered.

Peter frowned. "And me?"  
Derek bit his lip. "I need you to look after Hatter."  
"Since when am I a babysitter?"  
"Since now. Hatter, do you remember what I told you?"  
She nodded. "'Do not leave this house or I will handcuff you to a chair.'"

Stiles laughed. "Typical."  
"No, the other thing."  
She rolled her eyes to the ceiling, thinking. "Oh, that. Yeah, I got it."  
"You sure?"  
"Yes."

He sighed and stood up. "Alright" Derek declared. "Let's move out."  
. . .

"What exactly are you looking for" Parrish asked.  
Derek flipped through the folder in his hands. "Something with black teardrops."

"Wait, is that a band?"  
"I'm serious."  
"So am I. I mean, I just got here. What the hell do you expect me to know?"  
Derek threw the folder on the table in front of him. "Well, do you have any files on recent killings."  
He paused. "There was something" Parrish walked over to the file cabinet and pulled out a black folder. Seeing that the others were all yellow, that drew Derek's attention.  
"You do realize that this is extremley illegal and I could lock your ass up for looking through plice property, right" Parrish warned.

"Yeah, I really dont care" he mumbled, yanking the file out of his hands. In it were eight police reports. They were kind of lenghty. "Where's Stilinski?"  
"He's holding off the press. Said he'd be here in a few, though."  
"What's he make of this?"  
"Probably something about some lunatic targeting specific individuals to gain a personal reward for unknown resources. You know." He shrugged. "The usual."

Derek snorted. "Ha-ha." Then he frowned. "It might be another deadpool."  
Parrish shook his head. "Doubt it. If they're what your little girl says they are, then they must know that's already been done. It's just uncreative and tacky to ride off of someone else's idea."

"So, what do you think it is?" He flipped the page in the folder, ignoring the fact that he called Hatter _his _little girl.

"Just your typical assasin. A lot more organized, though. Seventeen murders in three hours? Not something thought of at the last minute. They planned this. And that sign? Hatter's right. They _want_ people to know their here. Plant fear in our hearts, get us on edge. That way, we'll point fingers at the wrong person and look in the wrong places while the sneaky little bastards are probably laughing their asses off halfway to Tennesse by now."

He raised an eyebrow. "You've really thought this through."  
"Well, we've had enough experience from the last assassin. I'm pretty sure we all have an idea of how their mind works."  
"How who's mind works?"  
Derek looked up as the sheriff walked in; he looked kind of rattled. "The Shadow Masters."  
He sighed. "Masters? As in more than one of them?"  
"So I've been told."

"Well that's just great." He sat down at the desk. Then his eyes landed on the folder in Derek's hand. "That's classified infromation."  
Parrish shrugs. "Might as well know. He knows everything else."

"And what do we know?"  
"We know that these attacks were planned by someone with experience who knows about the last assassins. They're here for something, we dont know what though. But we do know that they want people to know that their here."  
"Or someone" Stilinski said.

Derek inhaled.

"If they're going out of their way, risking getting caught, they're doing it for a reason. Want? I doubt that these 'highly trained' assassins are that arrogant. They'd cover their asses, even if it seems like they didnt. They wouldnt risk the capture. No. They dont have a choice with this one. They're either here for someone or something that that someone has."  
"And they're letting them know they wont leave without a fight" Parrish said, eyes widening with understanding. Then they narrowed. "Sons of bitches."  
Derek stood to his feet and placed the folder back.

"We're avoiding the big question here" Stilinski said, noticing Derek's sudden unease. "What, or who, is it that they're after?"

He closed the cabinet and leaned against the wall. "You think Hatter... you think they're after her?"  
He shrugged. "She shows up and suddenly there's tell of assassins? That's not a coicidence."  
Parrish looked up. "You've already thought about that, though, havent you?"  
Derek shifted his weight. "Partially."  
"And?"  
"...She kind of spazzes out when I ask her certain stuff. And she dances around the edges when I ask her."  
"She must have done something."

"I didnt say that."  
"You didnt have to."  
"Come on. She's like five."  
"But you dont know that. Not for sure. What do you know about her?"  
He faultered.

"Think about this, Derek. And be careful. Faifth is not a luxury we can afford right now."

. . .

The drive home was unbearable. Everywhere he turned, he saw people looking behind rocks and peeping sewers. All looking for the person that was looking for Hatter.

_No_, he told himself. _I dont know that. _He had to cling to the hope that she was innocent. Or, in some way innocent. Derek sighed and pulled into the driveway. From the text Stiles sent him, there wasnt much to see aside from tumbleweeds and a lot of ciggarette butts. Taking small steps at a time, he slowly made his way into his house, afraid that he'd find Hatter to be just another she-demon he'd have to deal with.

"DEREK, I DONT WANNA WORK THE STREETS JUST TO BE ABLE TO BUY A DIME BAG!"  
_Dafuaq..._

He turned to Peter, who just sat there like all was right with the world. Derek scoffed and said "two hours. I was gone for like two hours. What the hell did you do?"  
"We watched New Jack City and she wanted to know why G Money and Nino had so many bitches so I told her that they have to cause most girls ruin their lives and have to be prostitutes to get high."  
"Why, Peter just...why?"  
"She was gonna learn sooner or later" he defended.

"Why New Jack City? You could have put on SpongeBob or Scooby Doo and you put on New Jack City."

"New Jack City is better."

Derek turned to Hatter, who looked utterly heart broken. "You're not gonna be a prostitute."  
Her eyes widened. "I'm not?"  
"No."  
"But Peter-"  
"Peter's an idiot."  
He sat down and glared at Peter. "Get out."  
"Fine" he muttered, crawling to his feet. "And I was just about to put on Boondocks."

Derek growled.

"It's a cartoon, aint it" he said, walking out the door.  
Hatter crawled on the couch and rocked her feet. "Did you find them" she whispered.

"No. I do wanna talk to you about something though."  
Her fur tensed for a moment. "What?"  
"What are you?"

The fur relaxed. "Oh. I dunno."  
He frowned. "Did you just start..." He gestured at her half human half... cat body. "Doing that?"  
"No, I've always been like this. They just never told me what I was. They never told any of us. But I think we're... descen...des..."  
"Descedents?"  
"Yeah, descendents of the snow lepoard."

He nodded, though now he had even more questions. "And where did you come from?"  
"I dunno. They wouldnt tell us."  
"Who's they?"  
She frowned. "Why do you want to know?"  
Derek sighed. "Cause we're friends... I guess. And friends tell each other stuff. Right?"  
Her eyes softened. "Well...yeah."  
"So?"  
Hatter stared at him, her eyes and crystals dark blue. "Once you know something, you cant unknow it."

**Thank you I Am The Eleventh,TheMorbidGal, matrix, snoopycapybara, and yvette. . And, to answer your question TheMorbidGal, there will be more answers regarding Hatter in general. But for now, keep snow lepoard/human in mind when you think of her. And remember, spread the word. This story's getting a lot of action (on my standards anyway), but it does make me tingle inside whenever I see people reviewing and following and faving. Plus, it looks good on the search engine so other people will go "oh it must be good." God, I'm taking a lot. BYEEEEEEEE!**


	7. Getting Closer

**Warning: As you may or may not have learned( stop chapter jumping, goddamit! You're missing all the good shit!), this story is a crossover between Teen Wolf and Alice and Wonderland 2010. This chapter is probably not going to make ANY sense whatsoever if you have no experience with the Rabbit Hole Franchise(just kidding, that's not the real name of it, dont listen to me) so you should probably do some background research if you havent already. If not, whatever. Cause you're a badass. And I respect that. And this is kind of a deep chapter so dont expect too much humor. Well, I've said (WAY) too much. Enjoy ~**

"Hatter" Derek said, persistent. "I need you to tell me."  
She shook her head. "You dont want me to tell you."  
"Why not?"  
"Cause whenever I tell, it just gets worse."  
"That wont happen this time."  
"You dont know that."  
"Yes, I do." Hatter glanced behind her. "They're _always_ listening" she said, barely auidible. "And when they find out that I've told you, they're going to ruin everything."

Derek stared at her. Her fur was spiked up and her eyes looked distant, squinting in frustation. He couldnt ask her directly. She'd spazz out if he did. So, taking a deep breath, he laid a hand over hers. It was shaking furiously. "What do you remember" Derek asked.

She shook her head. "They didnt let me remember. They always made me forget."  
"What didnt you forget?"

Hatter's hand went to craddle her necklace. Very vaguely, Derek could hear it vibrating. "He told me to save it."  
He looked down at it. "Who?"  
"I dont know. Somebody."  
"What did they do to you?"

She brought her knees closer, her eyes big. "Bad stuff" she whispered. "Really... Really bad stuff."  
Derek crossed his arms. "The TearDrops?"  
She opened her mouth to answer. Then nodded.

"Like?"  
"They couldnt always make me forget. When I was bad, they said I had to be punished. And I wasnt good a lot, so they were always..."  
"Always what?"  
Hatter took a shaky breath and said "you shouldn't get involved with stuff that had nothing to do with you."  
He shrugged, only slightly offended. "I tend to do that."  
"If I tell you... they'll come after you."  
"So I guess we'll need backup. Which we already have. Nothing we havent dealt with before."

"You're right. They're not like anything you've ever seen."

Derek shrugged again, waiting.

Hatter sighed and crawled off the couch. Slowly, she lifted her shirt off and cuffed up the pants legs. When she did, she began to peel off the green body suit he'd always seen her wear, revealing deep and long lashes against her arms, back, and legs. Derek watched in horror and clenched his fist.

"I came from Underland" Hatter began quietly. "It was always pretty bad there. When The Frabjous Day came, everyone was so happy cause the JabberWocky was gone. But he laid some eggs, I guess, cause a bounch of mini JabberWockies just started destroying everything. The Renegades, those were my friends, and I were captured. The people of Underland... they let them choose to live in the new kingdom or die in the old. But... they didnt want us to die. They said that wasnt enough for us."

"After a while, some bandits heard about Underland and rode up to the Gates and demanded they hand over their money. The eldest JabberWocky saw evil in their hearts and said they could do better. So they let them in and started... experimenting on us, kind of. They gave us this stuff that made us act funny and fight each other. Then they let us out in the kingdom and..."  
"That's not your fault" Derek sighed. "You werent yourself."  
"I killed a lot of people" Hatter said, her eyes heavy.

"...The bandits are the TearDrops?"  
She nodded.

"And they're after you?"  
"Yeah. I'm sort of worth fourty hundred million dollars."

"...How did you get out?"  
"They were trying to send us to this place. Like a gladiator arena. The Renegades said we couldnt spend the rest of our lives there. The kingdom needed hope. We'd given them hope before so we could do it again. If one of us got away then we could start a rebellion. They chose me cause I was sort of the leader, I guess. When we were about to go through the Portal, we attacked the guards. I got through but it was the wrong Portal. It was supposed to send me to the Gladiator BloodBaths which we figured was near the kingdom but I ended up here."  
Derek raised an eyebrow. "Maybe it wasnt the wrong portal."  
Hatter yawned. "Of course it was. Why-"  
"Beacon Hills is a magnet for trouble. I'm not sure about BloodBaths but if they were taking you somewhere, this would be the place."  
"Which explains how they found me so easily" she noted, sleepily.

His eyes widened, something suddenly making sense. The murders were all in the MidTown area, just like Malia had said. But they'd been looking, like everyone else, where it seemed like the answer would be. "Hatter" he asked. "Did they say where they were taking you?"

"Gladiator BloodBaths."  
"More explicit."  
She cocked her head to the side.

"More details."  
"Um... An old bar, I think."  
Derek smiled. "They're good" he said, flipping out his phone. "But not good enough." Then he looked down at Hatter, who was half asleep. "You alright?"  
"Yeah. I just dont like talking about that."  
He sat down beside her and threw his arm around her. "You're gonna be alright."  
"Mmm... Probably not."

"Yeah, you will. You've got the pack."

"Humans can be pack too."  
He raised an eyebrow. "I know."

"You shouldnt underestimate them, Derek. They're pretty powerful too."  
"I dont."  
She raised an eyebrow back at him.

"Alright, I do. But I trust them...One more question?"  
"Fire away."  
"You said Underland is a kingdom. But you seem-"  
"Wild? Um... Whatever stuff they used on us kind of... messed us up. That and none of this stuff is in Underland."  
Derek nodded, though a troubling thought was bouncing around in his head. Hatter, a little girl, had been tortured. For who knows how long.  
Hatter laid back down."The Black TearDrops are Immortals too, Derek."

He glanced down at her. "Too?"  
"Yeah."  
"How old are you?"  
"Five."  
"How long have you been five?"  
"A couple months, I think. I dont know." She giggled. "But you already know that. All Immortals do."

. . .

Twenty seven more murders by Wendsday. Eighty three suspects were currently being questioned, Derek and Peter(not so surprisingly) being two of them. But seeing that there wasnt enough evidence to hold them, they were free to go. Now the system, and the mob of people looking for the reward, didnt have any details but the Pack had a reliable resource.

Sure enough, when they started looking in the area of the old bar(that was nowhere near MidTown), they got more answers.

"This is ridiculous" Stiles scoffed. "They are purposely dumping these bodies in MidTown to make it seem like that's where the murders took place."

Malia looked up from her map with the push pins on it. "Something must be going on in that bar for them to risk getting caught transporting trunks full of bodies."  
"They must have a secret route" Derek added. "It'd be pretty hard getting into town with all the crowds and patrol cars crawling all over the goddamn place."

"We need to get in that bar" Scott said.

"Yeah and get ourselves killed" Peter scoffed.

"Do we have another choice" Kira asked. "I mean, we're good as dead anyway. They must know that we've been snooping around. And since we're the only ones over there, we must know something everyone else dont know." She glanced at Hatter, who was still napping.  
"So we go" Liam shrugged. "What's to argue?"  
"It's more complicated than that. We dont even know if we might find anything" Stilinski objected. "They clean up what they leave behind, that's obvious."  
"We have to take the chance, though" Parrish said. "What do you expect us to do, just wait til it's one of us in MidTown?"  
"Hate to break up the arguement" Stiles said. "But I think we got something."

Everyone crowded around him and Malia.

"It looks like a pattern" she explained.

"I mean, they dont seem like the type of assasins to target random people" Stiles continued.

"These people must know something. Or else they wouldnt kill them."  
"We shouldnt jump to conclusions" Scott warned.

"Come on, dude. These people obviously got this shit worked out. They know how its gonna play out. They know who they're gonna take out, when they're gonna take them out, where they're gonna take them out, how they're gonna take them out, what they're gonna use to take them out, and why they're gonna take them out. And I think I know who they're going for next." Stiles typed a few keys on his laptop and watched the bar start to load.

"Not SuperNaturals" Malia finished. "These neanderthals arent that stupid. It looks like they're targeting people who look like they've been involved with these kind of situtations."  
Everyone turned to the two humans.

"Yeah, yeah" Stiles muttered. "Watch my ass, I got it." Then he smiled at his dad. "Can I get a gun?"

"No."  
"Dammit. Oh, it's done. See, over fourty missing people flyers have gone up over the past few days."  
Kira shrugged. "So?"  
"So, why havent we seen those flyers? Why havent there been any reports?"  
"Does it say where they're from" Liam asked.

"All from MidTown. And I've checked security cameras in the area and looky." The laptop chimed. "What I found."  
It was late. There was a man at a gas station. Suddenly, a black SUV rolled up. Five men, all dressed in black, rushed out of the van and stood alongside it. One walked over to the man and started to have a conversation with him. He seemed frenzied. The man nodded and followed the mystery man to his car. He looked surprised when he saw the other men. He turned to the mystery in confusion before one pressed a rag over his mouth. The man struggled and shouted muffled shouts before crumpling to the ground. Then four mystery men lifted up the man and threw him in the trunk. The last man then went to the camera, tapped it, and slowly painted a small black teardrop in the lower left corner. Then everything went blank.

"This one went online last night a three thirty three am" Stiles said.

"So what does this mean" Derek asked.

"It means that they're getting closer."  
"What do you mean" Peter asked.

"That gas station is fifteen minutes outside of Beacon Hills. With each disappearence, they're all getting closer."  
"So that means... they know she's here."  
Everyone glanced at each other. Then at Hatter. Then at the window, knowing that at this very moment, someone could be watching them.

"We're gonna need more backup" Derek said, dialing someone's number. "And I know just who to call."


	8. Breaky Time and Morning Madness

"They're crafty, I'll give them that" Braeden sighed, glancing over their work.

Derek looked over to her. "Anything?"  
"Nothing that we dont already know."  
"Thank you, that was so useful."  
Braeden rolled her eyes. "I told you, I dont specialize in assassin groups. Indivduals are more of my speciality. Now if you can get me a face, that might be different."  
"That's the problem, we dont have a face."  
"Well, have you scoped out that gas station?"  
"The pack's out there now." He looked down at the little girl curled up into a little ball beside him.

"They sure are going through a lot of work for her" Braeden noted.

"She's worth a lot of money."  
She shook her head. "Did she say why?"  
Derek shrugged. "She says most of her memory is kind of a blur. And the stuff she does remember is kind of sketchy."  
"We need to get somebody in here."  
He raised an eyebrow. "Somebody like?"  
"Someone that can make you remember stuff."  
"And who do you know that can do that?"  
"We'll find someone."  
Derek shook his head. "We cant let anyone find out about her. Too many already know."  
"Well, do you have any ideas? Cause if so, I'd love to hear them" Braeden challenged, crossing her arms.

"You just love pissing me off, dont you?"  
"Yes. Yes, I do."

He sighed and crawled to his feet, walking over to his window. He'd been doing this for the past few hours. If anyone was watching them, he wanted to be certain. No one was getting in this house without going through him first. "There's gotta be something that we overlooking" Derek said, staring into the dark night. "Somebody we're not thinking of."  
"Who are you thinking of" came Braeden's reply.

"Somebody who's got a clean record."  
She looked up from the files Stilinski had brought over with a look that said "continue."  
"It's like you said, they're crafty. They're good at covering their asses. Which means their record is clean. But then there's gonna be something that looks suspicious on there."  
"Because everyone messes up. At least once" Braeden said, seeing his point. "But there are a lot of people who cover their asses that arent major league assassins."  
"Yeah. But I'm willing to bet their's sticks out like a sore thumb."  
"And just how are we supposed to find their files? They might not even be from here."  
Derek smiled. "It seems like they've got this place wired. They know where the remote places are, where everyone would expect to look, when it's best to stay low, and where they're gonna strike." He turned to her. "Someone has either been here before or done enough research to know this place like the back of their hand."  
"Alright, so that narrows it down some. But what is it that you're looking for on their record? We cant solve an equation we dont have all the variables to yet."

"Something like being in possession of firearms or something like that."

Braeden stood from her post, shoving the files in her bag. "If that's the case" she said. "Then we might have a shot at taking out these assholes."  
"Might?"  
"In case you havent noticed, you guys arent too bright." Braeden walked to the door and was about to leave when Derek said something.  
"Try not to get yourself killed this time."  
She froze her hand on the doorknob. Then she twisted it and, just before the door slammed behind her, replied "Same goes to you."  
. . .

Derek brushed a strand of silver hair out of Hatter's hair. It was almost four in the morning. He was exhausted but couldnt allow himself to go to sleep. His wolf had been howling all day. It had calmed down but he kept his eyes open anyway. Something, something big, was coming. And he couldnt rest until he knew it was gone.

"Derek?"  
Tiredly, he looked down at Hatter. She yawned and stretched, like a cat would, before sitting up straight. "Yeah?"  
She crawled closer to him and cupped her hands around his ear. "Is Braeden your mate?"  
His face caught fire. "I dont think so."  
She cocked her head to the side. "Are you sick?"  
"No."  
"You're red. I think you're sick."  
"I'm not sick. That's just kind of a private question to ask."  
Hatter nodded. "Is she your girlfriend?"

Derek laughed. "In a way."  
"Do you want her to be your girlfriend?"  
"Why the sudden interest?"  
"Cause she was the first person you called and you smiled a lot when she was here."

"Mm hm."  
"So you do?"  
He smirked. "Maybe."  
"You have a crush on Braeden" she giggled.

Derek rolled his eyes, yawning. "Go back to sleep."  
She crossed her arms, pouting. "I've been sleeping all day. I'm tired of sleeping."  
"I know but you need to save your energy in case something happens."  
"You do too, you know. I dont think I've seen you take a nap at all today."  
"I'm twenty six, Hatter. I dont take naps."  
"Well, you should. Come on, I'll take watch. It'll be easy. There arent any foxes here."

Derek nodded and rubbed his eyes.

"You need to get some sleep" Hatter repeated. "You wont be able to protect me if you're like this."  
She had a point.

He sighed and stood up. "If anything happens, you come and get me. Understood?"  
She smiled. "Good night, Derek."

Reculantly, he turned around and headed towards his bedroom.

. . .

When the sun rays peeked through the blinds, Derek smiled. Hatter was right. A good night's sleep was exactly what he needed.

His eyes widened. _Hatter._

He shot out of bed and rushed into the living room. His heart nearly caught in his throat when he found she wasnt on the couch. He bit his lip and clenched his fists. "Hatter?" When he got no reply, terror found its way around his brain. He walked around the house and found no sign of the little girl. Derek ran a nervous hand through his hair. "Where are you?"

And then he heard the faint sound of purring. "Hatter" he asked in confusion. He walked back towards his bedroom and found the sound growing louder the closer he got. After searching the room, he got down on the floor and peered under the bed and smiled. Hatter had, as she promised, made a nest in his room. It was made out of covers and she looked so much like a kitten he couldnt help but chuckle a little. The sound woke Hatter and forced her eyes open. She blinked when she saw the man staring at her. Then she smiled wide. "Good morning, Der-Bear."

"Morning, Hatter. Come on."  
"Is it time for breaky" she asked, crawling out from under the bed.

"Yeah. I'm gonna make some French Toast."  
"What is French Toast?"  
"Bread."  
"What is bread?"  
He faultered. For the past week, he'd been feeding her raisin bread and fruit for breakfast. And, as she'd explained before, Underland didnt have the same kind of stuff that they have. So she probably didnt know what dough was. Derek shrugged and walked to the kitchen. "It's food. And kind of sweet if you put syrup on it. wash you hands"  
Hatter nodded and, drying her hands, watched in amazement as he started to bring out the ingredients. "What's that" she asked.

"Butter."  
"And that?"  
"Cinnamon?"  
"And that?"  
"A measuring cup."  
"Oh."

Derek smiled and said "can you get me a spoon?"  
"Mm hm." She rushed to the drawer then rushed back. Derek , reading the instructions on the back of the box, reached for it then froze. "I said spoon."

"I know. This is a spoon."  
"No, this is a fork."  
She frowned. "Are you sure?"  
"Yeah."  
"Okay." She started to turn then stopped. "What's a spoon look like again?"  
"It's like a fork but without the teeth."  
"Oh, okay... Here you go."  
"Thank you- This is a knife."  
Hatter frowned. "It doesnt have the teeth."  
"The spoon it kind of smooth, like the bowl."  
"Okay. I'll get it this time... Here you go."  
Derek dropped the box, laughing slightly at her confusion. "I said _like_ a bowl."  
Hatter crossed her arms. "You did not make that clear." Then she walked to the drawer and pulled out a spatula. "This one?"  
"No."  
She held up an egg beater. "This?"  
"No."  
She grabbed a pair of thongs. "This?"  
"No."  
She reached for a spoon. "_This one_?"  
"Yes."  
Her face lit up. "Really?!"  
"Yeah."  
Hatter skipped over to the counter and handed it to him.

"Thank you. Now can you get me the egg beater."  
"You're doing this on purpose."  
"Alright, I'll get the egg beater. You get the eggs" Derek decided, heading for the drawer. Hatter nodded and walked to the fridge.

"Which one holds the eggs" she asked.

"The one that's grey."  
She nodded and carefully sat the egg carton the counter.

"Good. Okay, now I need you to crack one of those eggs and put it in that bowl."  
"Okie dokie." Hatter reached in the box, grabbed an egg, and crushed it in her hand. She stared at Derek as the yolk slowly dripped into the bowl. "I dont think this is working."

"You need to crack it against the counter" he advised, grabbing some milk out of the fridge.

She nodded then slammed an egg against the counter.

"Softly" Derek added, watching the egg explode.

"Oh." She reached for another and this time actually got it in the bowl. When she looked in the bowl, she found Derek had gotten the rest of the ingredients. He also had gotten some bread and was frying it in the pan. Then he reached for the bowl and dripped some onto the bread. Hatter gaped and exclaimed "how did you do that that fast?" Derek just shook his head and said "I'll show you again tomorrow."

After fifteen minutes, the timer went off. Derek rushed to the kitchen and slapped three pieces of toast onto each of their plates. Then he placed one in front of Hatter. "What's that" Hatter asked as he poured syrup across her French Toast.

"Syrup."  
"What's that?"  
"Liquid sugar" he shrugged.

She poked her fork at it."Is it good?"  
"Yeah."

She gave him a suspicious look. "You eat it first."  
Derek picked up his fork and stabbed the French Toast before shoving it in his mouth.

Hatter looked down at the breakfast. Then, cautiously, she took a bite. Her face lit up like a light bulb. Then she took another bite. And another. Soon, her whole plate was cleared. Her foot tapping furiously, Hatter looked up to Derek. "Is there anymore" she asked.

He nodded and gave her three more pieces, watching her eyes and crystals turn a bright green color. He stared in concern. "Are you okay?"  
"Yeah, I'm fine" she answered, quickly. "Syrup tastes amazing Derek. I cant believe we dont have any in Underland. Or maybe we do and they just never gave me any. Those meanies. I bet they did have some. They never shared anything with me. Isnt that stingy? I always shared my stuff with everyone. Except for the foxes, cause they always stole my stuff. Those jerks. Kira isnt mean, though. She's actually really nice. I'd probably share my stuff with her. Not French Toast though because FRENCH TOAST IS THE BEST THING IN THE UNIVERSE! Hey, Derek, are you gonna eat your French Toast? Can I have yours? Nevermind, I just want the syrup."

Derek snatched the bottle of syrup from the table before she could grab it. She pouted and asked, shaking, "I like syrup. I want syrup. Can I have the syrup?"  
"No."  
"Why not? You have syrup."  
He shook his head. "Are you supposed to have sugar?"  
"I dunno, I've never had sugar before. But now I have, so I want some."  
"Well, you cant.'  
Hatter picked up her plate and let the syrup drip off of it into her mouth. Derek snatched that and threw it in the sink. "Sit down" he ordered. Hatter pouted but obeyed. When the dish was scrubbed clean and his three bottles of syrup hidden, he returned and placed a hand on her shoulder to get her to shaking. That just made her twitch and start giggling. "Stop, that tickles!"  
Derek brought his hand back and watched her fall into a fit of laugther, absolutely terrified. And it happened to be that Peter walked in right at that moment.

"Hey, I never got my truck back and if you even think I forgot about it, you're out of your goddamn mind and-"  
"PETEY! DEREK WONT LET ME HAVE ANY SYRUP! HE'S BEING A MEANIE! CAN YOU GET ME SOME SYRUP! HE TOOK ALL OF MY SYRUP AND NOW I CANT HAVE ANY AND THAT SUCKS CAUSE I'VE NEVER HAD ANY AND THE MOMENT I DO YOU PEOPLE TELL ME I CANT HAVE ANY!"  
Peter stared at Derek ."What the fuck have you been feeding her?"

"I just gave her Flapjacks" Derek said in defense. "With syrup."

"How much, eighteen gallons?" He walked over to her and placed his hand over her heart. "What the hell, Derek? Her heart is vibrating!"

"How the hell is that my fault?!"  
Hatter giggled and rushed into the kitchen. Peter and Derek exchanged a glance before rushing after her. She stood in the cabinets, the ones eight feet off the ground, throwing a bunch of stuff onto the floor. "WHERE IS THE SYRUP!?" Peter grabbed her by her waist and restrained her arms while Derek guarded the stash.

"What do we do now" he asked in irratation.  
Peter shrugged. "Wait til she crashes?"  
"And how long will that take?"  
"The hell should I know?"  
"You people give me the best advice."  
"Hey, I didnt sign up for any of this. I was just coming here to get my truck back."  
"Oh, what do you need it for anyway?"  
"That's besides the point. It's mine. So where is it?"  
"Probably at the pound by now."  
Peter growled. "Do have any idea how long it took me to bribe the guy to sell it for three hundred bucks!?"  
"I honestly dont care and can we get back to_ this_?"  
Peter scowled at Derek. "You see, this is why people dont like you."  
Hatter clawed at his arms. "YOU GUYS ARE MEAN! IT'S JUST SYRUP! IT'S NOT LIKE I'M DOING HEROINE OR SOMETHING-"  
"Where the hell did she hear that from" Derek barked.

Peter stared at him innocently. "The fuck you looking at me for?"  
"Syrup is a funny word" Hatter slurred. "It kind of sounds like throw up." She brought her hand in front of her face. "Oh wow, look at my hand! Syrup, syrup, syrup. I'll find it eventually, Derek. You cant hide it from me forever. Cause I-I need a nap." Hatter suddenly fell limp and crashed to the floor. Peter glanced at Derek. "You killed her."

**Oh, poor Derek. Such an idiot. :D**


	9. Gone

**Hey guys, I am currently working on a picture of what Hatter looks like. It might be a while before it's up but I am in the process of creating it. Anyway, when I'm done, I need someone to send me a pm and explain to me VERY slowly how to upload it. Anyway, enjoy it. This chapter's gonna be pretty jaw dropping.**

"Do we have insight?"  
A man in pitch black clothing with a tear drop splattered across his left hand bowed down on one knee. "Yes. But it's not reliable."  
"Do you know the location of the girl?"  
"Yes. But it appears that she's found some friends."  
"Supernatural?"  
"It would appear."  
This man, with a three tear drops splattered across his hand, chuckled menacingly. "Well then" he said. "I guess we'll have to dispose of that little roadblock, wont we?"  
The man shook his head. "They are experienced. And suspicious. They sent some of their kind to check out the hideout a little while ago."

"Smart." He stroked his goatee. "Worthy oppenents, perhaps."  
"With all do respect, I dont think such an idea is approchable. The sheriff and his son are in on it. If they go missing, it'll be pretty hard to slip through."  
"Of course. And the girl?"  
He hesistated. "The man looking after her is very persistent. And very powerful. He can shift into a full wolf, so I've heard."  
"A minor setback. When's the soonest you can get your men out there?"  
"An hour or so? But I'd have to get them prepped and make sure everyone's scrubbed down and..."

He raised an eyebrow.

"The little brat will be back in your possession by sundown."  
A sick smile crept onto his face. "Excellent."

"She wont come easily."  
"I know. I'd expect no less. There'd be no fun if she came willingly. The whole point of this would be lost."  
"What do you reccomend I use?"  
"What's that stuff called that make humans allergic to cats?"  
"Cat Allergens?"  
"Yes. I need you to get those Allergens and reverse it's genetic code. Then I need you to mix that with cigarette smoke."

The man nodded, understanding. "Do not worry about anything. All is taken care of."  
"Oh, it'd better be." His voice took on a demonic tone. "Because if not, I'll have to get rid of my cheif commander."  
"That's me."  
He smiled. "Exactly."

. . .

"You get five minutes" Derek said, looking in his rear-view mirror.

Hatter, her eyes still foggy from the sugar rush, gleamed and opened the door before taking off onto the path that lead to the playground. It was full of children, save for some pigeons here and there. Which, Stiles had reasoned, was good because everyone would be too busy watching their own kids to worry about Hatter. However, that was the very reason that Derek had been reculant to take her there. If there were a lot of people around, it'd be pretty hard to protect her if anything happened without causing a scene. In the end, though, he ended up taking her to the park.

"I wanna get on these" Hatter sat hopping on a swing. She watched another kid beside her practically flying above the trees and kicked her feet. She pouted when she didnt move. "Derek?"  
"I got it." Derek walked behind her swing and gave her a little push. Hatter giggled and whooped. "Push and kick your feet" he advised before stepping to the side.

"This is fun! There's another swing over there, Der-Bear."

He shook his head. "I'm too old for swings."  
She sighed a arent-you-adorable sigh and kicked her feet while Derek, not taking his eyes off of her, walked over to a park bench.

"Are you sure this is a good idea" Scott asked, his eyes worried. "We're kind of out in the open. Anyone could see us."  
"No, but she just got off a sugar high and I dont need anymore screaming" he muttered, rubbing his eyes.

He stared at him in curious amusement. "Sugar high?"  
"Dont ask."  
He held his hands up in defense. Then a serious look crossed over his face. "Do you think anyone's looking for her? You know, that doesnt want her head on a stick?"  
"Probably not. She said they'd had her for a couple years so either they stopped looking cause they were too miserable to go on or they just didnt care enough to bother."  
Scott nodded and asked "so she really doesnt remember anything?"  
"Not much."  
"It'd be a huge help if she did."

"Braeden said she was gonna ask a guy to come in and look at her."  
He raised an eyebrow. "What do you think?"  
"Never gonna happen."  
"Well, it wouldnt be a _terrible_ idea."

"Yeah, it kind of is. She's already got a group of top notch assassins on her tail. We really dont need anyone else in on this."  
"I'm just saying, if there was a way to make her remember, then we might want to take it. Aside from a few hints here and there, we're basically on a wild goose chase. We dont know who we're after or what they're capable of. Even if we did find them, it wouldnt be any use if we didnt know their face. They're obviously masters of disguise. But if Hatter knew them, she'd be able to sniff them out like that."  
Derek sighed, watching Hatter rush over to the jungle gym. "I know that" he muttered, nervousness crawling into his gut as he watched the little girl begin to crawl inside the tangle of ropes. "But it's too risky."  
"It's too risky to not try. Derek, I know you care about her. But if you really want her to be safe, we've gotta do something. We cant just let her run around the way she is."

"If you mean her hair, I'm already considering just hacking that shit off in her sleep with a weedwacker."

Scott laughed. "Until then, just put it in a ponytail or something."  
Derek laughed at himself as he said "it is in a ponytail."

"That's a Goddamn shame."  
"DEREK! SCOTT! LOOK AT ME! I MADE IT TO THE TOP!"

The two waved and smiled before resuming their conversation.

"So, this is it then" Scott said. "You're really gonna keep her?"  
He nodded. "Yeah."  
"You know that means not being a total asshole, right?"  
"Funny how both you and Stiles have so much faith in me."  
"I'm serious. You might even have to move."  
"Why?"  
He made a gesture with his hand. "Beacon Hills, Hatter. Not a good combo."  
"Me and Beacon Hills arent a good combo either, but I'm still here."

"I just want you to think this through. Cause if you dont, it wont be just Hatter that's going down."  
"I know." He glanced over at the jungle gym where a man in blue jeans and a grey shirt had appeared. He was laughing at something. Hatter was slowly crawling off the jungle gym. She sat down in the wood chips and rested her head on her knees, her breathing heavy. Derek frowned and stared at her for a moment, expecting her to hop up and start laughing. When she didnt, he elbowed Scott. Scott turned his attention to Hatter and had the same reaction as Derek.  
"Is she alright" he asked.

"I dont know" he replied, getting to his feet and walking over to her. "Hey, kiddo" he said, worry edged deep into his voice. "Everything alright?"  
"Yeah, I'm fine" she replied quietly.

"Are you sure?"  
"Yeah. My head feels kind of funny, though."  
His frown deepened as he placed a hand over her head. She was sweating. "Maybe we should leave."  
She looked up, her eyes a soft grey color. "Yeah."

Derek grabbed her small hand and helped her to her feet. There were a lot of people around now. Lots of kids running around and parents taking pictures of their kids, capturing memories. He took note of this and reminded himself to buy a camera on the drive back home. Suddenly, the man in the blue jeans and grey shirt bumped into him, causing him to lose grip of Hatter's hand. For a moment, the terror he felt the day in the mall all came rushing back to him. Then the man pushed him.

"Hey" he snapped. "Watch where you're going."

"You're the one that bumped into me" Derek mumbled.

"Get some damn glasses. Cant even see three feet in front of you, for God's sake."

"I can see perfectly well, thank you very much. I think you're the one that might need some glasses. And while you're at it, pick up something for upstairs why dont ya?"  
The man scowled at him. Then a little boy ran up to him. "Dad" he whined. "I wanna get some ice cream."  
The man shook his head a Derek, looked down at his son, and smiled. "Alright" he said turning around. "Dont tell your mother, though." And just as they were about to get on the path, the man turned around and sent him one last irratated glance.

Derek sighed before reaching for her hand again. When he he didnt feel the touch of Hatter's skin, he took a shaky breath and turned around. Hatter was no where to be seen.

"Hatter" he called. Scott looked up from his post and shared a look with him before calling "Peter!" Peter, who had taken it as his responsibility to kick all of the kids out of the tunnle system near the slide and make it his post, peeked out of one of the holes and looked at the two. In a split second, he was on the ground with them.

"What's going on" he asked.

"Have you seen Hatter?"  
"She was just with you."  
Scott's phone rang, as did Derek's.

"Everything alright" Stiles asked from his post in the car with Malia and Liam.

"I'm not sure" Derek mumbled.

"Where's Hatter" Kira asked.

"I'm sure she's around here somewhere" Scott answered, though he didnt look so positive.

"What do you mean you're not sure" Stiles asked. "Is she with you?"  
"Not exactly. She..." Derek trailed off as he peered into the forest behind them. He barely caught sight of the man with the blue jeans and grey t shirt, a teardrop splattered across his neck, running away with Hatter draped across his shoulder. For a split second, Derek's eyes met with hers. Beneath the fogginess of a sugar high topped with allergens, he saw absolute terror in her eyes.

And then she was gone.


	10. Two Peas

**All right, I'm putting it out there now. **_**Wake Me Up**_** is probably going to be cancelled in the next week or two. Fifteen reviews by 3/27, or this story is going OUT THE WINDOW.**

Derek crossed his arms. "I thought you said you checked the bar. You said it was clean."  
"Well, we thought it was clean" Stiles replied. "But we went back and saw a piece of black cloth stuck in one of the bushes. I'm guessing they packed their stuff up and relocated."

"They were in one hell of a hurry" Peter noted, sniffing the cloth. "They didnt even bother to cloak their scent."

"They must have known we'd come after them and didnt want to waste any time now that they have what they came for."  
"So what does this mean" Stilinski asked. "Do we know where she is?"  
"We have a pretty good trail to follow, so maybe" Scott answered.

"It's pretty far from here, though" Malia mumbled. "It's gonna take at least a week to get there."  
Stiles shook his head. "I'm willing to bet they left that trail on purpose, just to throw us off."  
"So where do you think they're going" Liam asked.

"Probably somewhere outside of Beacon Hills but not so far out that they'd draw suspicion for being that far out."  
"Worthington" Derek said.

"Exactly. There's a huge mansion in the middle of that place that no one's used for years. If they're smart, which they probably are, they'll say they're just checking out the place and no one will even notice."  
"That's about a two hour drive from here."  
"Half an hour if you have a police escort" Stiles said, looking at his dad.

He rolled his eyes and said "you are such the model citizen."  
"Thank you for noticing."

"So" Kira said. "Worthington. We leave at three am."  
"Three am?"  
"The darkness with give us a cover."  
They all glanced at each other nervously before nodding.

"Three am" she repeated. "Be ready or we'll leave without you."

. . .

Derek walked through the doors of his house and stood in the doorway for a moment. For the first time in days, there wasnt some weird scenario taking place in his house. There wasnt the faint smell of energy in the air. There wasnt some strange girl skipping over to greet him. All was quiet. The only evidence of the oddity of the last few days was the excess of glitter that Hatter had coated the house with. All was normal.

But he didnt want normal anymore.

The clock read nine thirty. _By now, Hatter would have been snuggled up in her nest_, Derek thought. But then he scolded himself. Refering to her in the past tense wasnt a good sign. He sighed and plopped down on the couch. There were still six hours left before the pack would show to pick him would be best if he got some sleep, to conserve his energy. Derek laid down and closed his eyes. He tried not to think of the worst case scenarios. He tried not to deepen the worry that had been apart of him since eight o clock. But after an hour passed and sleep had made no impression on him, he sat up.

It was no use. He wouldnt get any sleep. Derek ran a hand over his face and exhaled deeply. His mind was racing with the thoughts of all the torture Hatter was having to endure. His mind was racing with the kinds of torute those bastards were going to have to endure once he got his hands on them.

Derek sighed and walked over to the kitchen. There were still eight slices of French Toast left. He picked one up to eat but ended up sitting it back down. There was too much there. He continued walking until he stood at the end of the kitchen.

On the refrigertaor was a picture of Hatter and Derek. It was pretty good, for a five year old. She'd drawn them in their ferile forms, though there was enough happiness in their eyes to power the sun. Derek smirked and slid the picture into the breast pocket on his shirt.

And then it all became too much. Losing, losing, losing. All he knew how to do was lose.

Slowly, he let himself sink down onto the floor. He'd only known Hatter for a week. That wasnt even close to the time he'd known his family. But her absence left a black hole in his heart. One larger than the other ones. He blinked and brought his knees closer to him, tears threatening to spill over his eyes. Hatter didnt have anyone. And neither did he. So they had to protect each other. They were two peas in a pod. Two sides of the same quarter.

"I'm going to find you" Derek whispered, his voice cracking. "I swear it."

And then he heard it. The faint, distant sound of humming he'd been ignoring since he walked through the door. Although now it was louder.

He blinked in confusion and looked around him. He crawled to his feet and started walking. In the hallway, he stood in front of his linen closet. Here, the humming was almost alive. He opened the closet, his heart beating furiously, and stared at the warm red light emitting between two towels. Derek lifted the towel off the bottom one and found himself staring at the talisman that he'd seen around Hatter's neck.

He stared in amazement before the image of Hatter slung over that man's back, that had been replaying itself for hours, came back to him. She hadnt been wearing the talisman. Which was weird because she'd been so protective of it. Derek brought his hand closer to it and gently cupped it in his hand before crying out in pain. The talisman glowed a darker red color, it's crystals practically screaming at him. Derek clenched his hand, which had healed dispite having been burned just a second ago, and wrapped the talisman around the towels. He then walked over to his laundry room and shoved it in the washing machine, hidden in a bunch of clothes. The tailsman hissed from the water but eventually died down.

After that, it was easy to go to sleep. He didnt know how, he didnt know why, but he knew that Hatter knew she wasnt coming back that day. She trusted him with that stone. Which meant she trusted him enough to save her. So when the pack drove up in Peter's van, he didnt hesistate. Because he'd already lost one family.

He wasnt going to lose another.


	11. Worthington Mannor

Derek crouched behind a bush, sporting a sharp black tux, and peered at a snake trail of black SUV's rolling up, his skin suddenly clammy. This organization was a lot bigger than they'd thought it would be. About ten people poured out of each truck. To the average onlooker, it appeared that they were just some new neighbors throwing a party when in reality, they were preparing for yet another bloodbath.

After about an hour, a man stumbled out of a car. _Late_, he figured. Derek inhaled deeply before silently sticking his leg out. The man tripped over his leg and squealed.

"What the hell" he slurred, flailing his arms.

"Shut up" Derek hissed.

The man laughed bitterly and spat a brack colored slob of spit on the ground. "Dont think you'll get away with this. Someone's gonna notice I havent checked in."  
"I highly doubt that" Derek muttered before searching his pockets for an I.D. You see, the way they had it figured, these people were secretive. They'd most likely never let some come to a bloodbath twice. They wouldnt reconize faces. They wouldnt get to know them well enough to know faces. Just names and things they could use against them in case the time came to it.

Derek stared at the I.D. As they had predicted, there was no picture on it. Name, date of birth, social security number, address, and a few other things Derek didnt bother to look at.

"Thank you" he said, blinking his red flashlight three times. "You've been a big help. Charles."  
"Go to hell" the man swore just as the truck pulled up.

The window rolled down, revealing a car full of people dressed in black. The man smirked bfore Derek kneed him in his back. "They're gonna roast your ass and feed it to those beasts, asshole." He winced and tried not to think of o particular beast ripping his body apart.

"You've got one hour" Stiles said, his eyes serious. "That's when the bloodbath starts. When that happens, they're gonna crack down and actually start taking identity seriously. If you're still in there by then-"  
"I know" Derek interuppted.

He stared at him, solemly. "Be careful. If anything happens, push your panic button. We'll be in there in thirteen minutes, tops."

"What the hell is this" the man snapped as Derek threw him in the truck. He stared at the people in front of him, girls in black dresses, men in black tuxedos. "Everything's gonna be fine" he reassured them before turning around.

. . .

Worthingthon Manor was a creepy estate that looked like it was seconds away from being swallowed by the earth. The foundation was crumbling and leaning forward, the windows had been shot at, the remains of an ancient animal decorated the lawn, and there was a rumour that, if you looked closely, you'd seen the ghost of a girl about Hatter's age roaming the hallways. Derek remembered his grandfather taking he and his siblings there whenever he and his wife came to visit. Walking up the steps, he felt memories surging through him. But once he came to the front door, he realized it probably wouldnt be as magnificent as he remembered.

"I.D. please."  
Derek reached into his pocket and handed the man the piece of plastic.

After an agonizingly long minute, he heard a beep and the man said "enjoy the show."  
He smiled a fake smile and walked through the door.

When he'd gone there as a kid, Worthington Manor looked as if it had been abandoned for centuries. But once Derek walked in, the mansion underwent a transformation. Twas not a cobweb in sight. The once dusty chandelier was now sparkling white. The beaten in piano was no fully operational and being played by a woman with dark red hair. The cracked tiles on the floor had been replaced. The walls had been repainted. He didnt let himself glance at the area where the cellar remained. He knew what would be in it's place.

"New to the bloodbaths?"

Derek tensed and turned to his right. A woman hovered about three feet above the ground, as if she were laying down on a couch. She had jet black hair that was cut just above her chin, long eyelashes with black eyes, and a pale skin complexion. She wore a tight black t-shirt, dark grey jeans, dark blue Nikes and black nail polish on her nails. She smiled wide, showing him her pearly white fangs.

Derek may or may not have drooled a little.

"Hello?"  
He snapped out of his thoughts and said "uh, yeah. You?"  
"I've been to a few. I dont see what's all the excitement for, though."  
He frowned in confusion. "You dont like them?"  
"If I wanted to see a bunch of animals tear each other apart, I'd go back home to my apartment in Lousianna. I'm just here for the food."  
Derek gulped.

"Oh, I was kidding" she giggled. "I've already fed. They wouldnt let me in here if I hadnt anyway." She dropped to the ground. "What's your name?"  
He stared at her. Her aura was strangely welcoming. But he couldnt risk it. As far as he knew, she was just as crazy as the rest of the people in there. "Charles" he said, shoving his hands in his pocket. "Yours?"  
"Vanessa  
He nodded then asked "so give me some pointers. What do I have to look forward to?"  
She shrugged. "Be prepared to have your innocence taken away from you."

Derek sighed.

"Oh, dont be so doom and gloom. You're at a party, neanderthal. Enjoy it. There's music, people, books-"  
He crossed his arms. "Well, I aint here for the food."  
"That's the spirit. Come on. I'll show you the place."  
He raised an eyebrow. "You've been here before?"  
"Most of the people here have. The guy who runs this place, Demetri, he has this thing that maniupulates the structure of a building so that it looks... Well, like this."  
Vanessa floated off the ground and started to fly away when she turned around. "You coming or what?"

. . .

"Are you a vampire?"  
Vanessa giggled and ran a hand over a painting along the wall. "That's what the humans like to call us, but we actually go by the name of Vrykolakas." She suddenly stopped and poked his chest, her eyes flashing red. "_Dont_ get the two mixed up. If you do, I might be tempted to-"

"Agrivatating the bloodsucker, are we? Total badass."  
Vanessas growled and turned around to face a man who looked like he'd spent the summer on mars and had a goatee. "Mind your own Goddamn buisness, Lucifer."  
"Someone's sour." He nodded at Derek. "Who's this?"  
"Charles." She lowered a bit and looped her arm through Derek's. "I'm showing him around. He's new."  
Lucifer chuckled. "I can see what you're doing, but you'd better cut it out. Befriending a vampire is pretty bold. While it is true that she can 'protect' you, she might also bring harm to you."  
"_Vrykolakas_" she snapped.

"Come on, Vanessa" Derek muttered, walking away. "You were about to show me the arena?"

"The arena? Demetri wont tolerate anyone peeping around."  
"Demetri also wont tolerate anyone getting their head chewed off cause no one told him about that lose gate."  
Lucifer rolled his eyes. "Oh, Vanessa. Tsk, tsk, tsk. You're not fooling anyone. Just so you know, I dont think it would be wise to feed on this young fellow. He hasnt paid his fee yet. 'Metri would be very upset."

"Suck. My. Ass."  
He rolled his eyes and turned around. "Keep your eyes, open, werewolf."

Derek's eyes widened. "How did he know-"

"Lucifer practices in Dark Magic. It's like pre school but for Demons. He can snuff out your SuperNaturality in a heartbeat."  
"He's a demon?"  
"In the literal and figurative sense" she muttered, sighing. "Look, dont listen to him. I rarely feed on people unless I have to."  
He nodded, though he wasnt really worried about that. "So, what kind of animals are in the bloodbaths?"  
She shrugged. "Any that Demetri can get his hands on."

Derek glanced down at his watch. Fourty five minutes before the bloodbath.

"In a hurry?"  
"Kind of" he muttered.

"Well, these bloodbaths can last for hours. I'd suggest doing whatever it is you need to get down before then."  
"I know" Derek said. "Can we go to the arena now?"

"Dont see why not. Just try not to hurl. It's kind of gory."  
"I've seen some pretty gory stuff."  
Vanessa smiled. "Alright then, tough guy. Just dont say I didnt warn you."

**Victoria, I appreciate the comment but people really arent liking this story. I know I said 3/27. But if people dont review some more, I might take this whole story down.**


	12. The BloodBaths

**Warning: may or may not contain some semi but not really graphic scenes.**

"_Attention all attendees. The bloodbath will be starting in thirty five minutes. Everyone is required to be in the stadiums fifteen minutes prior to the event."_

"Good thing we're here already."  
Derek glanced down at the arena. Whoever was in charge of the arena did a pretty good job of cleaning it up. But the smell of blood, flesh, and fear still lingered in the air like mold. He nose curled up in disgust once it hit him.

"Yeah, you get used to it" Vanessa said as she floated down into the arena.

"Are you supposed to be in there" Derek asked, his face still green.

"No. Are you scared?"

He looked around. It could have been a trap. But he couldnt afford to doubt her. He only had twenty minutes to find Hatter and get out of there before people would start getting suspicious. Sighing, Derek hopped over the gate and into the arena. The smell was even worse.

"You came on a good day" Vanessa continued. "Boss man got his star back. They're saying she should be even better than before."

Derek shivered. "What do you mean?"  
"Well, I'm usually scarfing down on mini corn dogs so this is second hand information. Anyway, there are six battles every business day. Usually, the beasts battle once a day. But Demetri likes her a lot so she'll be fighting three times a day."  
"And...How good is she?"  
"Good, so I've heard. Kills everyone she fights."

"..."

"Wanna see her?"

Derek nodded, sweat popping out against his forehead.

Vanessa walked over to one of the many doors against the wall and peered into a hole. Her eyes widened. "Damn, she looks fierce She held the latch open and stepped aside for him to see the sleeping beast.

Derek had never seen Hatter in her ferile form before. Usually, she was in her Hybrid form. But that didnt prepare him for this. She was huge and looked like she could kill anyone with the swipe of a paw, which had thick chains attached to them.. From head to toe, she was covered in blood. Hers or someone else's, he didnt know. And that, not having the ability to tell her apart from the other beasts, is what terrified him the most.

"They're not stupid."  
Derek turned around, grateful for the distraction. "What" he asked, numbly.

"They know you're not Charles" Vanessa continued. "They know you're the guy who's been looking after her."  
"I'll kill you" he simply said.

"Immortal" she noted, pointing to herself. "But let me finish. You've got about fifteen minutes before they throw you in the ring and let her tear you apart, limb from limb. You're not getting out of here. Not without a fight."  
"I'm not alone."  
"They know. They found your friends. They're gonna let them in the ring too."  
He groaned and leaned against the cool, concrete wall. "Why are you telling me this?"  
Vanessa looked up to him, her eyes flashing red. "Because those sons of bitches have my son in there."

Derek met her eyes.

"It's only gonna get worse" she whispered. "They're going international. The bloodbaths are getting more brutal. The beasts are losing their minds. And they like that shit."  
"What does that have to do with me?"  
"You, your friends, and I are the only ones willing to put them in their place. This is the last bloodbath before they go to Iraq. We wont have another chance."  
He already knew the answer. But he asked anyway. "Another chance to what?"  
"To release these beasts upon innocent civilians" a voice said from behind. Derek whipped around in time to see Vanessa crashing to the ground. Not even a second later, something slammed against the back of his head. He stumbled around for a bit before gravity pulled him to the floor and darkness consumed him.

. . .

When Derek woke up, he was vaguely aware of chanting. He sat up and found himself to be in a small dim litted room. But even in the darkness, he could see the forms of his friends and Vanessa.

"Our ass is grass" Stiles said glumly.

Derek looked around him and asked "Where the hell are we?"

He shrugged and said "one of the cells."  
"That was so helpful."

"Well, it's not like they told us where they were taking us."

"Derek, did you learn anything?"  
"Nothing that's gonna help us now" he muttered, crawling to his feet. "There's gotta be some way out of here."  
"It's a one sided door" Peter said. "Only opens from the outside."  
Derek crossed his arms and walked over to the wall where the chanting was the loudest and felt along it before his hand scraped a latch. He pulled it back and peered out.

There were about five hundred people in the stands, more pouring in by the second. In a throne-like chair above the arena sat a man in black robe. He rose a hand in the air, revealing it to have a black tear drop splattered across it.

"Attention, everyone" he said, his voice booming. The people in the crowd, all sporting a teardrop or two of their own, silenced. "First of all... I would like to thank everyone for coming out. I mean, we're about to go international! We couldnt have gotten here without you, of course."  
The auidience cheered and hooted.

"Yes, yes, we've come a long way since, um, "borrowing" rabid dogs from kennels. But today, as you all know, we are celebrating the return of our beloved champion, Conquistador."

Another cheer.

"Unfortunately, our founder Demetri could not be here today. But we shall enjoy this bloodbath in his honor. Tonight, two of the best fighters in the county will compete. Will Conquistador triumph once again? Or will it meet it's match?" The man turned around and walked away. "Open the gates!"

Suddenly, the wall between Derek began to rise. He jumped back and stared in front of him as a large red fox leaped out of it's cage.

"Stay back and keep quiet" he advised, pushing himself as far against the wall as possible.

"GET IT OUT OF THAT CAGE!"

An ear splitting howl rippled through the air before Hatter shot out of her cage and into the arena. The fox looked at Hatter and growled before throwing itself on her back. Hatter hissed and bucked it off before snapping at it's neck. Derek gulped and shut his eyes tightly, desperately trying to block out the sounds of flesh being ripped apart.

When he opened his eyes, he saw the fox's remains being dragged away and the man back on his throne. "As always, such a pleasure watching our champion defeat an opponent. But now, it's time we mix things up. New contestants, and yet ones our champion has already come to know."  
Derek blinked and turned to the others, who looked pale(except for Vannessa, who looked bored) and nauseous. "What does that mean" he asked before the floor beneath him began to rise up, sliding them out into the arena. He groaned and held his head before his eyes met with Hatter's, who were pitch black. A moment passed before he got it.

"God fucking damn it all to hell."

**Special thanks to Mary, Lisa, Victoria, and 1. Keep reading and all that other stuff. I cant promise anything but I might continue. Might.**


	13. Daddy's Little Girl

Derek glanced around the arena. He'd spent a good ten minutes or so in that arena before he'd been knocked unconcious. And he'd spent another good ten minutes watching Hatter's movements. And from the looks of it, she was avoiding the western wall. For better or worse, he didnt know. But there really wasnt an option. He had a handful of people with him who, SuperNatural or not, wouldnt be able to defend themselves if the time came.

"Get to the western wall" Derek said calmly.

Peter scoffed. "Derek, what do you think you're going to do? This is not a rodeo."  
"There's something over there. She wont go by it."  
"Doesnt that mean that we shouldnt either" Liam pointed out.

"If a giant cat is scared of something, I'm pretty sure we should be too" Scott inputed.

"It'd be smarter to ignore it all together" Kira advised.

"We dont know what's over there" Malia said, glancing at the wall in question.

"Do you have a better idea" he snapped just as Hatter pounced in their direction. He jumped back and peered over his shoulder. "Go. I'll take care of this."  
The group of people shared looks before turning around and following his directions.

Derek sighed and rolled his shoulders back, Hatter eight feet away from him. "Come on" he said, quietly as they circled each other. "You know me."  
She growled and launched herself at him, hissing when he ducked and rolled away.

"Dont do this" he whispered. "You dont have to do what they want you to do. This isnt you."  
"You dont know me" she spat in a gruff voice, barely intelligble. "And I dont know you." She swiped her paw and pushed him back six feet.

Derek looked at his arm with three distinct claw marks on them and hissed in pain before rising to his feet. "Yes, you do" he insisted. "I am your friend." He pointed to the group of cowering people behind him. "They are your friends."

Hatter's eyes flashed silver before they dilated to mere pinpoints in pools of black tar. She shook her head and stumbled slightly.

"Derek" Stiles shouted. "The TearDrops!"  
"The Black TearDrops" Derek explained. "They took you. And they hurt you. And they're making you do this."  
She looked back up. Her eyes consumed in darkness, she pinned him to the ground, her paw risen. "They are my friends" she said, though her tone didnt match her words. "They saved me from-"  
"From what?"  
Her paw froze, mid-swipe.

"Remember. And not just me. Remember _everything_ they've ever done to you."

Hatter's eyes came into focus. She stared down at her friend in confusion. "Derek?"

"WHAT IS GOING ON DOWN THERE!?"

"You know who I am" Derek repeated, watching her eyes compete between moonlight silver and deathly black. "And I know who you are. This isnt it."  
She dropped her paw, her shoulders sagging. Her eyes, one black and one silver, looked like the saddest pair of eyes he'd ever seen. "Who am I?"

It was then, however, that a siren went off. Hatter howled in pain and turned around. Guards poured down from the stands but none were capable of stopping her from running headfirst through the northern wall.

"_Ladies and gentlemen_" the man in the black cloak said. "_We ask of you to quietly and calmly exit the arena." _And even though he was trying to sound collected, there was a note of frustration in his voice. Probably because everyone was doing the exact opposite of that.

"Derek!"

He turned around and found Braeden leading the group up a stairway that had bee activated by the guards. "We're going to get the car" she shouted. "Are you coming?"  
He glanced at the giant hole made by Hatter. She was here. She was alive. He knew where she was going. With every second, she was becoming farther and farther away from his grasp. Derek clenched his fist. Well, he'd made it this far. Taking a deep breath, he turned around and followed in pursuit of her.

"Someone's gotta stay here" said. "He doesnt know where to go when he finds her."

"I'll stay" Stiles said.

"No, you wont."  
"Dad, this isnt the time for this. I'm staying."  
"Not by yourself."  
"He wont be by himself" Vanessa said, stepping up.

He looked at her as if to say, _is that supposed to reassure me?_

"If I wanted you dead" she said. "I would have killed you all before you woke up."

Mr. S,however, didnt budge.

"We split up then" Scott spoke up. "You and Stiles go find Derek. Kira, Malia, and Liam keep anyone from finding them. Mr. S, you and I are gonna be the getaway drivers."  
He sighed and placed a hand on his son's shoulder. "Dont do anything stupid."  
"For once, right" Stiles remarked as a large bang penetrated the air. They all jumped and stared at each other.

"We'd better get going" Vanessa advised. "This place looks like it's ready to crash. If we're leaving, we've gotta go now."  
. . .

Derek found Hatter whimpering underneath a collum. The foundation was crumbling but she didnt look stuck. She looked like she was hiding from something. There was, however, no threat around them at the moment. The only demons she was facing were the ones from her past. When she saw him, she looked as if she didnt know whether or not she was happy or upset to see him.

"Come on" Derek said. "I'm gonna help you."  
"They always say that" she murmured, looking deep in a memory. "But they never did."  
"Well." He crouched down. "Then you've got nothing to lose, do you?"

Hatter looked down. "How do I know...That you're not with them?"

"You dont" he admitted. "But, right now, you just need to trust me."  
"I cant."  
"You trusted me before. You can do it again."  
"No" she said, shaking her head. "I do trust you."

"...You do."  
"Yes."  
"Then what's the problem?"  
Her eyes landed on his arm, which was bleeding. "I dont trust myself."

Derek stared at the trouble girl before him. The look behind her eyes was the same look of a war veteran who'd watch her squadran be killed. She was blaming herself for things she had no control over.

Cautiously, he crawled closer to her. "Why not" he asked.

Hatter sniffled, tears streaming down her face. "Because I hurt you. And my friends. And a lot of other people."

"Yeah, I know...But that doesnt make you a bad person. It just means you've done bad things."  
"Which is bad."  
"You cant keep blaming yourself for things that someone else made you do." He stepped closer to her but stopped when she flinched.

"Just go away" she whispered and at first, Derek felt himself loose hope. She really did think he was the bad guy. But then she continued. "Please. I don't wanna hurt you."

Derek looked at her, his eyes pleading. "You cant blame yourself" he repeated. "This is beyond your control. It's beyond anyone's."  
"But I cant blame Demetri" she whispered.

That bastard again. "And why is that?"  
"Because she owes me."  
Derek turned around, catching the club that was about to smash over his head. Then he looked at the man. He was like the announcer, only he had three TearDrops. "Who are you" he asked.

"I could ask you the same. Who do you think you are, stealing my pride and joy? Right when I'm about to go international? Tsk, tsk, tsk. It is not wise to uspet me." He looked behind Derek and saw Hatter cowering behind his leg. "Hey, sweetie. Lets get out of here."

Derek pushed him back. "You stay away from her."  
"Oh, why do you care?"  
"Because she and I are like family. And she needs that. Not some freak show for gladiators."

The man chuckled. "You see, my good sir, that's the difference between you and me. Hatter and I are not _like_ family."  
Derek rose an eyebrow, not quite understanding. Then his face fell. "Hatter" he asked in a hoarse voice. "Who is this?"  
Hatter closed her eyes tightly as the man removed his cloak, revealing a full head of silver hair and markings similiar to hers. "He's my dad."

**Special thanks to Raven Fay for favoriting this story.**


	14. Daddy's Little Girl Part II

**First off, there is a little mention of the reproduction process of Hatter's species. Second off, you guys really need to review more. Seriously, it edges people on when there are a lot of reviews.**

A lot of emotions swirled through Derek with that one phrase. Anger. Disgust. Depression. Fury. Angst. Disbelief. Rage. It was as if a hurricane of feelings had erupted inside of him. And the sea wall that was meant to keep them at bay had crumbled. _He's her dad. He's her dad. He's her dad. He's her dad. _It was a mantra that shot up a few octa waves with every repeat. Derek just stared at this strange man who was the spitting image of his daughter. Same skin tone, same hair, same posture, same eyes(although his didnt change color every other second), same eyebrows, same ears, etc. But appearences were about as far as the resemblence went. They hadnt even had a full conversation yet but Derek knew this man was sick in the head. He had to be, to be willing to put his own flesh and blood through this kind of torture.

About three minutes passed before Derek's brain started to function again. It wasnt the humane portion of his brain, though. His eyes flashed red and his teeth bared. His claws crept out and an undeniable urge to destroy corrupted him. How long had it been since he'd lost control like this? Who was the last person that had been able to draw out his inner wolf? He couldnt remember, couldnt remember anything really except that he needed to claw out this man's eyes in the next second. And he was about to do just that when he remembered why he was so upset at him. He let his hand tightly clamsp around the small one belonging to Hatter. She was shaking; not from her father's overwhelming presence, he knew, but from the realization that Derek was losing the firm grip he had on his own humanity.

Derek pushed his wolf back down deep into his gut, for now, and reasoned that it wasnt the time to lash out. Hatter needed an example. And he wouldnt be a very good one if he did the exact opposite of what he was trying to tell her not to do.

"Well, isnt this just heart warming" Demetri snarled with a sick grin on his face. "Has my baby girl found herself a new daddy?"

Hatter whimpered softly and suddenly, her claws were digging into his hands. Derek ignored the blood gushing from his palm and glared at Demetri. There were so many questions he had. So many words he wanted to exchange with him that probably werent approriate for those under the age of thirteen. But, in the end, all he said was "So you're the guy everyone's been swooning over?"  
Demetri laughed. "Yes, I guess I am quite popular. That's what happens when your product is the best money making machine in the business."  
"That's what you think she is?"  
"Well, what else is she?" All humor left his voice. "Look at her. She's an animal. A beast. A mangy mongruel. I blame her mother. She swears it wasnt from her side of the family and that it's a mutation that was thought to have been wiped out a long time ago. But I'm no idiot. My family is pure, clean. That." He pointed at Hatter. "Is a mistake. At the time, I was furious. Six months and she never told me that I was carrying some kind of freak."  
Derek let his eyes drift down to his left ankle for about a split second. He was limping. He was weak. If he could distract him long enough, then maybe...

"_You_ carried her" he asked. "For _six_ months?"

Demetri rolled his eyes. "Males carry the children for my kind. And she was a little sick when she was born."  
He scoffed. "You spent six months with her growing inside of you and yet you still feel no closeness to her."  
"Why should I? You treat her as if she is a person-"  
"She is!"  
"-When in reality, she's just a mangy mutt that needs to be locked away in a cage. Dont get too close, Mr. Hale. She's not as sweet and innocent as you think. Sweetie, tell the nice man how your mother died."  
Derek couldnt help but loosen his grip on her hand. It was only for about a fraction of a second but he knew she noticed because a light sob soon met his ears. Tightening his hold, he squared his shoulders. "I dont care about that."  
Demetri stepped closer, his eyes dangerous. "I think we've spent enough time talking. Now, Olayemi is going to come with me-"

_Olayemi?_

"And you, mister man, are going to join me for a little walk."  
Derek suddenly felt himself begin to sway on his feet, the man's words hypnotic. Once again, his grip loosened. Only this time it was Hatter that kept the two groundedagain. "We're not going anywhere, Demetri" she hissed, her eyes black again. And even though he knew Demetri wasnt the fatherly type, Derek couldnt help but wonder at Hatter calling him by his name. He was going to call her out about it, for some reason unbeknown to him, but Demetri interuppted him.

"And why is that" he said, his eyes and face soft. It was obviously affecting her too because she was squeezing her eyes shut and shaking her head furiously. "Because I dont want to stay here" Hatter slurred quietly. "I want to go with...Derek."  
"Derek doesnt want you to stay with him. Derek thinks you're too much trouble."  
The fogginess cleared in Derek's head long enough for him to argue. "You keep your goddamn mouth shut" he snapped.

Hatter stumbled a little but kept her eyes closed. "You're...You're lying."  
"Olayemi. My little Amy, would daddy ever lie to you? I've always taken good care of you, havent I?"  
Hatter groaned and brought her free hand to tightly grasp her head. "No, no you havent" she whispered, but she didnt sound so sure of herself.  
"Yes, I have. You've known me way longer than you've known this bloke. How is it that you trust him more than me?"

She opened her eyes, now solid black. "I... I dont."  
Derek's heart sank. "He's tricking you again. Dont fall for it."  
She looked up in confusion at him and let her hand drop out of his. "Daddy, who is this?"  
Demetri smiled. "Oh, just another prisoner. You'll fight him for me, right?"  
Hatter nodded, though there was still confusion in her eyes. And she was still looking at Derek.

"Hatter..." He trailed off as he thought of something. "Stony, you know me."  
Her eyes flashed silver. "...Stony? Who-"  
"It's me. Derek. Your 'daddy' has been trying to kill you since you were born so you ran away and met me. You dont like water. You like tattoos, you like dancing, you need glasses, you don't like talking about the past you-"  
"It's not going to work" Demetri said, yanking Hatter away from him. "She knows the truth. And the truth is she doesn't need you."  
Derek clenched his fist. It was a long shot. But he had to try. "You like _syrup_."

A light seemed to go off then. Her eyes exploded into two pools of milky white and a smile burst out onto her face. And Derek knew she would have started bouncing off the walls at that instant. Had it not been the sudden explosion behind them.

**Special thanks to Scarlett10467 for following and favorting this story.**


	15. Opening Old Wounds

Everything happenedin a flash. Derek reaching for a chunk of stone, slamming it over Demetri's head. Demetri crumbling to the ground. Stiles and Vannesa rushing through the gap in the wall. A piano suddenly crashing through the ceiling, barely missing them. (So pianos really do fall from the sky). When the smoke finally cleared, Derek stared at Stiles. The teenaged boy just shrugged and replied "turns out, vampires come with explosives. Who knew." Vanessa's eyes narrowed but she didnt say anything.

"We gotta go" Derek said, aware of the sound of the foundation groaning. "This place is about to come down on all of us."

"The front enterance is covered but I remember seeing a window near the ball room" Stiles said. "I'd suggest we leave now, though."  
Derek nodded, walking towards them, but stopped when he found the shaken little girl staring up at him. He knew before the words left her mouth that they were about to complicate everything: "I cant leave yet."  
"Sweetheart" Vanessa replied sarcastically. "In case you havent noticed, you really dont have a choice."  
"There are others" Hatter said. "I cant just leave them here."  
Derek shook his head. "No, we're leaving right now."  
"I'm not going anywhere. Some of them are good people."  
"...We cant risk it."  
"If that were me in there, you'd want someone to come find me, wouldnt you?"  
He inhaled deeply. "It's not up for discussion. We're leaving, end of story."

Hatter nodded. "Well, you got the first half right."

Derek didnt even understand what she meant before she took off running in the other direction. Guess it really wasnt up for discussion. "Hatter!" He started to chase after her when he remembered the two behind him. "Get out."  
"We're not going anywhere" Stiles said, as if he'd suggested bathing in acid.

"If we get stuck in here, no one will know before it's too late. Besides, you've got good people who are waiting for you out there."  
"So do you" he pleaded and, deep down, Derek knew it was true. Over the years, he and the pack had grown close. Supernatural or not. But he couldnt leave without Hatter and he knew they werent leaving without him.

So he had to lie.

"I'll be fine" he said quickly, growing anxious at the distance between him and Hatter. "This is a big building, and I've seen more exits here than I can count."

"Which means we can come with" Stiles insisted. "Besides, we're better off with you than we are by ourselves."  
"Well, obviously" Derek snorted in arrogance. Then his face turned serious. "But you need to go. My body can handle more than yours. If something falls on you, nothing's gonna save you."  
It was almost scary when the something fell above them. Cracks appearing in the ceiling, Derek clenched his fist. "I'll be back" he said, desperate. And when he saw Stiles shoulders ease, he didnt wait for his permission. He just turned around, going faster than he'd ever gone in his life.

. . .

Running through the corridors, Derek was vaguely aware of the strange animals pouring down the hallway. He barely even noticed the peice of ceiling that nearly crushed him. All that he knew was he had to keep going forward because that was where the stampede was coming from. He only stopped when he found Hatter, just like that day in the store, clinging to a wall as she bent the bars to a cell. A strange women with wings shot out of the confined space and, screeching, fell into percussion with the rest of the terrified beasts.

"HATTER!"  
She looked down and smiled, as if glad he had followed her. And, after thinking it through, Derek realized that she was. But he wasnt in a good mood at the moment.

"We need to go" he insisted. "When you see a crowd running in one direction, you dont go in the opposite one!"  
"There are just eight more" Hatter said as she slung herself to the next cell but Derek had caught her by her ankle so she didnt get very far. Dangling by the bars, she sighed. "I need to do this."

"No, you dont."  
"Yes, I do! Because I know what it feels like to be trapped and see people you thought were going to help you just walk by when they had the chance to help."  
"Hatter, if we dont leave right now, there isnt going to be anyone to help save them!"  
She shook her head. "I have to try." Her voice was barely audible but her eyes were burning orange with determination.

"No, you dont! This is not your fight, so stop acting like it is. This is their problem, not ours. Their blood will be on Demetri's hands, not ours."  
"It will be if I just walk away without helping."  
"You've done all you can."  
"I can always do more."  
"And what happens when you cant? What happens when you're gone? Who's going to help them then? Some things you cant stop, no matter how much you want to. You have to do your best and if that means turning your back on everyone who ever cared about you just to stick your nose in something doesnt concern you at all and be ripped to peices, then THAT'S IT! YOU CANNOT SAVE EVERYONE, LAURA!"

Derek felt himself deflate after that outburst. Laura. He hadnt realized his anger had been directed at his little sister. Hadnt realized he'd been so distant with Hatter because he was still upset over losing Laura. He'd been carrying the hurt he'd felt when they first found her and making her pay for it. Suddenly, he wasnt in a mansion on the verge of collaspe. He was in his old house, scowling at Laura for wanting to go back to Beacon Hills. She'd wanted to help people. And, in return, she'd paid with her life.

Now who's that asshole that said to never go around opening old wounds?

Hatter, however, didnt seem to notice his little mistake. She just stared down at him with her big eyes and said "nobody ever said it was easy."

Derek let go of her ankle then. But he didnt stop there. Instead, he crawled up the cell bars and helped her free the other prisoners, understanding for the first time what must have been going through his sister's head that day. The guilt. The anxiety. The regret. The fear. He'd done everything to stop her from leaving. To prevent her inevitable death. To keep her from saving the lives of people who were in danger of the alpha. Because if she hadnt, the police wouldnt have caught on until it was too late. A lot more people could have been hurt. And maybe, if he'd gone with, no one would have been hurt. Not even Laura.

He couldnt dwell on that thought. It was a new day. There things he had to do. The first being save these terrifed lost souls. The second... starting a life with Hatter.

When the last of the prisoners had been freed, Derek bent down and let Hatter crawl into his lap, hugging him. "You're a good kid" he whispered, his chest tightening. The corridors had been blocked with falling debris. There was very little oxygen in the air now.

"You're a nice man" Hatter whispered back. She buried her face into his shirt. "Are we gonna die?"  
He shook his head. "Dont think about that. Just...look at me."

She looked up, her eyes the same silver they'd been he first ran into her. "I'm glad I met you, Derek. You've been the best friend I ever had."  
A single tear slid down his cheek. "And you've been the best I've ever had."

Another piece of ceiling came down around them, forcing Derek to hug his legs closer to him.

"I'm glad I'm dying with you."  
He hugged her tighter. "Immortals cant die."  
"Not technically. Certain things cant kill us and we dont age...But I dont think that'll save me now."

"..."  
"It's okay. That just means we wont be sad if one of us dies."  
Suddenly, an aroma of cinnamon tainted the air. Derek smirked, reconizing that Hatter was sharing with him her natural scent. (Funny how he'd never given it much thought before). And it made a steady current of tears run down his face as he realized that she trusted him. Without a trace of hesistation."Cinnamon" he said. "That's... that's weird."  
"I know" she replied, smiling weakly. "And I dont even like cinnamon."

Feeling his breathing begin to slow, Derek asked "Why Stony?", knowing she would understand what he meant.

"...My real name... is Olayemi...Silverstone...Stone...Stony..."  
Derek gave her a little shake. "Dont go yet."  
She inhaled wheezily. "I'm so tired."  
"I know. Just hold on."

Hatter squeezed his hand. "I love you Derek."

He closed his eyes, overcome with emotion. "I love you too...Olayemi."  
**I know, I know, this chapter is so full of sadness I almost cried just writing it!Anyway, I really do appreciate those of you who are ACTUALLY reviewing and have decided not to let lack of reviews control my stories anymore. As for you other people, I'd thank these people if I were you: Shreya, Mackblair2001, and Angelic Creature 21. **


	16. Right Where I Need To Be

**Special thanks to accaliahasenfallen**

And it seemed like that was it. The end which, he'd always known, was inevitable. Every breath they took took longer to come than the previous. Every blink seemed to last five minutes. The rise and fall of their chest were becoming spaced out. But the look in Hatter's eyes, a soft yellow, was the scariest. It wasnt like black, which meant she was on the verge of slipping and ripping your throat out (**ha ha)**. And it wasnt green, which was the equivalent to locking a tornao in a vault. It was yellow, like the kind the sun is at the peak of the day, which seemed to mean contempt. That she was okay with this.

But the end never came. What did come was a large crash to their left followed by a loud radio of terrrible seventies music blaring. For a moment, Derek thought he had died and gone insane(or was it the other way around) and just sat there, his grip on Hatter now somewhat life threatening. But then the smoke cleared and he was just staring at Peter's stupid grin and a car full of terrified expressions.

"Hey, ass-for-brains" he yelled. "You coming or what?"  
His demeanor would have been funny if the entire situation wasnt so terrifying. And maybe it was this, the fact that if he didnt move fast enough he'd fail at their last attempt to live. Or maybe it was because of the excessive blood loss he was experiencing from when Hatter had been using him as a personal stress ball. Whatever the reason, it was then when he lost conciousness.

. . .

"1,2,3. Goldfish."  
"Damn. Uh, what about eight."  
"1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8. Catfish."  
"Um...1."  
"1. Sushi."  
"That's not a fish."  
"Is too."  
"Is not."  
"Is too!"

Derek had been semi awake when the conversation drifted into his mind. He hadnt been fully concious yet to realize how odd it was. So instead, he craned his neck and looked around him. White, white, white. The walls were white, the floor was white, the bed was white, his hospital gown was white, even his skin was a little paler than usual. Then he backed up. Hospital gown?

_"Are we gonna die?"_

_"Dont think about that. Just... look at me."_

_"I'm so tired."_

_"I know. Just hold on."_

_Yellow eyes, yellow eyes, yellow eyes, yellow eyes, yellow eyes, yellow eyes, yellow eyes, yellow eyes._

The memories came back to him like random flickers, the way someone feels when they're watching T.V. Absorbed to the point of looking like a bloated goldfish but not really involved. But he was. Derek had to force himself to take deep breaths before he realized it was true. He and Hatter had almost died. Where and how? That was kind of iffy, something about a party or another. For a moment, he tried to recall, but that just resulted in a rather sharp jab of pain to his brain so he tried to focus on something else.

If he concentrated enough, but no so much that he'd give himself an ucler, he could vaguely remember Scott yelling at him. Hatter was on the brink of passing out as well in Peter's arms, though she was murmuring something unintelligible. And since it was in his nature to be an grade A asshole, Peter had laughed and said "you guys look like fucking shit. Not that you were all that good looking in the first place." Stiles had-

"How about three?"  
"1,2,3. Codfish. You really stink at this game."

-scolded him, though the smirk was clear on his face. And after realizing that the two were probably on Death's Doorstep, the pack rushed them to Deaton. Of course they couldnt take a Hybrid and a werewolf to your typical clinic but Stilinski and Peter ended up having an argument that lasted for about twenty minutes before dropping Derek off at Scott's mom's place and Hatter at Deaton's. As to how long they were apart-

"Six."

"1,2,3,4,5,6. Butterfly fish."  
"What the hell is a butterfly fish?"  
"I dunno, a fish that swallowed a butterfly?"  
"Who eats butterflies?"  
"Hippies?"  
"So you eat butteflies?"  
"Ha ha."  
-he had no idea. But given that his joints were kind of stiff, he'd have to guess a couple of days to say the least. And Hatter. How was she taking this? She was unstable as it was. Derek being her anchor and all, she must have been losing her mind. Or was she even still there? Had she run away, terrifed at the idea of Derek being comatose? Or had she died? The thought increased his headache so he redirected his train of thought.

Where was Demetri? When Stiles and Vanessa blew up the wall-

"Eight."  
"You already said eight."

"Well fine. Two."  
"1,2. Eel."  
"I dont know how you're doing this."  
-Derek hadnt been thinking. He'd been meaning to take out his ankle so he couldnt move. THEN, cause T.V. never lies, he'd go for the head. But then he lost his footing and went for the head first. It wasnt likely he was dead so that meant, to some agree, he'd be able to escape. The idea-

"Five."

"1,2,3,4,5. Eagle Ray."  
-terrified him beyond relief. What if he-

"Seven."  
"1,2,3,4,5,6,7. Elephant fish."  
"You're making this up now. That's not even a thing!"  
-was hunting him down? What if he found Hatter again? What if-

"Thirteen!"  
"Gah! I cant count that high!"

"I know, that's why I said it. I win!"

There were two things Derek had to do in that moment. a) stop distracting himself with stuff that he already knew the answers to and b) address the strangeness of the conversation that had been surrounding him. He looked up for the first time and found Scott, Stiles, and Hatter and sitting in three chairs. Scott looked fairly amused, Stiles looked victorious, while Hatter just looked downright irratated, pouting that pout of hers. Then, eyes flashing green, she squealed and launched herself onto Derek's bed. He barely even reconized the wind being knocked out of him.

"Der-Bear!" she giggled. "You're awake."  
He raised an eyebrow. "You say that as if I've been sleeping for a year."  
She bit her lip. "Well, actually it's been a year and six months, but who's counting?"  
"WHAT?!"  
Scott rolled his eyes. "Two days" he chuckled. "Relax. You werent that sick."

Derek sighed. Then frowned. "Why are you suddenly obssessed with fish?"

Scott and Stiles snickered.

"Some game she used to play back home" Stiles laughed.

"A game" Scott added. "That makes no sense whatsoever. In any way."  
"You only say that cause you lost" Hatter grumbled, snuggling up against Derek.

And it was then that the two teens exchanged a knowing glance. Then they let Derek join in. Then, smiling softly, they exited the room. Hatter either didnt notice or didnt care.

"You smell funny" she muttered.

"You know, some people find it weird to be sniffed" he replied sarcastically.

"I'm a cat. Cats sniff each other."  
He nodded, not needing her to explain any further. The same went for wolves. It helped reassure them that someone close to them was safe. "Are you okay?"  
"...I think so. Are you."  
"Yeah. Kind of tired though." He looked at her and was couldnt help but notice her eyes flicker away. "Everything alright?"  
"Mm hm."  
Derek scowled. "What's going on?" Then he sighed. "Is it Peter? I told you, that guy's an asshole and if he even said anything I'll-"  
"It's not Peter...It's just that...Well, I heard you and Stiles talking."  
"I'm not sure if you noticed, but I havent been capable of talking for the past two days."  
"No. I mean...it was a little while ago. The second day I was here, I think."

He just stared at her for a while. Then leaned his head back, troubled.

_"She's staying here for a week then Deaton's gonna find something to do with her."_

_"Really?"_  
_"What?"_  
_"I dunno. I just figured you didnt like kids."_  
_"I dont. But she doesnt have anywhere else to go."_

_"So, she must have been around other people. Wild people, but people."_  
_"Okay, so what are you getting at?"_  
_"You find out who those people are, and you've got her off your back."_

_"_You know who I am now" Hatter said quietly. "You know where I come from. And it's been about a week. So-"  
"I'm not getting rid of you" Derek said, almost angrily.

She met his eyes, now, hopeful. "You're not?"  
"No."  
"...And you're not leaving?"  
He sighed. "No. I'm right where I need to be."

Hatter seemed to relax after that. When Deaton came in to check his pulse, and ask Hatter how she was dealing, she didnt move. She talked to Deaton, laughing as she played her ridiculous Fish Numbers with him. But she didn't dare leave Derek's room. Not even when Deaton told him that he was heading home. **(I imagine Deaton's office being like a mini hospital.) **And so they just stayed there. Hatter, being the restless ferret that she was, was always around the room. In the chairs, on top of the cabinets, on the floor, dangling over the bed, near the window. But she'd always return to Derek's side after a minute or so passed. Sometimes she told him stories. Some times she acted out little plays that made sense to no one except her. Once, she sang a song in a the native Underland language that she called Blergunese. He didnt understand the words, but liked the sound of her voice. It reminded him of his grandmother, singing him to sleep as a child. _One day_, he promised himself. _I'll tell her one day._

_"_What should I call you" he asked, yawning.

"Hm?" She looked like she was asleep herself, curled up into kitten posisiton.

"Should I call you Hatter, Stony, or Olayemi?"

Her fur tensed. "Hatter."

Derek gulped before he pressed on. "Why?"  
"...Because Olayemi is my mom's name. And Stony is short for Silverstone. And that makes me think of Demetri cause that's his last name."  
"You dont like your mom?" he asked, not bothering for explanation on Demetri's part.

"I love my mother. But...I..." Her eyes flickered to a blue full of regret and remorse. Then to black.

"Okay" Derek said, anxious to change the subject. "No Stony, no Olayemi. Hatter it is."  
She shook her head. "Sorry."  
"It's fine. We dont have to talk about that."  
"Later" she said. "I'll tell you when we're home. Later."

Right. Because his home was now her home. Their home.

Derek smiled and brushed away a tuft of silver hair. "Now, how about you teach me how to play Fish and Numbers?"  
Hatter grinned widly. "I can try. But I can guarantee you'll win."  
"Bring it on" he chuckled.

"Okay, so here are the rules..."


	17. Wake Me Up

**Okay, so I'm just gonna put it out there right now. This chapter is named after the Ed Sheeran song Wake Me Up. It's a romance song but, for obvious reasons, it's only meant to be taken as friendly. I know some people have their interest in Ships, I have my own that are pretty weird, but this is not one of them. Just a simple Daddy/Daughter family FanFic. It's supposed to be a metaphor of Hatter telling Derek she knows he's got a dark past and insecurities about taking care of her but she doesnt care and loves him anyway. There. Now that that's out of the way...**

The next day was soft and quiet. The teens had school so, after dropping by for a few minutes that morning, they were gone for most of the day. Peter was "negotiating" with the guy who was holding his van in the pound so they probably wouldnt even hear from him for a couple of days. Mr. Stilinski and his guys were interrogating Demetri, who was apparently facing the life sentence for more charges than he could list. Deaton was busy trying to figure out how to explain to a woman why she shouldnt have put her pet mouse in the same pen as her pet snake. Vanessa had found her son and was boarding a flight back to her hometown. And Braeden was out on a job. So it was just the two of them.

At nine thirty, Hatter's voice began to bounce of the walls. It was a song that her friend, Alice, had taught her when she came to visit. Somehow, it had managed to stick with her.

Derek had been making her a bowl of assorted fruit when she started singing. And like before, he couldnt help but become mersmerized at the sound.

"I should ink my skin with your name. And take my passport out again and just replace it. See I could do without a tan on my left hand where my fourth finger meets my knuckle. And I should run you a hot bath and fill it up with bubbles."  
Hatter was sprawled out across the floor, drawing a picture of the sun rising over a barren wasteland. There was a starnge cat with a mischevious smile, a pale woman with blonde hair, a small field mouse, a rabbit in a waistcoat, a scruffy looking hare, a dog, and a large and frightening beast. Behind them was a towering castle. Despite the gloomy air, they all looked happy.

"Cause maybe you're loveable. And maybe you're my snowflake. And your eyes turn from green to gray and in the winter I'll hold you in a cold place. And you should never cut your hair cause I love the way you flip it off your shoulder. And you will never know just how beautiful you are to me. But maybe I'm just in love when you wake me up."

Derek smiled at the familirity of the lyrics and joined her in the living room. She smiled when she saw him and scooted over, showing him the picture. He nodded, knowing who was who from the descriptions she'd given him the day before.

"And would you ever feel guilty if you did the same to me. Would you make me a cup fo tea to open my eyes in the right way. And I know you love Shrek cause we've watched it twelve times. And maybe you're hoping for a fairy tale too. And if your DVD breaks today, you shoulda got a VCR. Cause I never owned a Blu Ray. True Say."  
Hatter smiled and, with soft blue eyes, added herself to the picture. She looked like the wild and slightly confused girl she'd been nearly two weeks ago. But the look in her eyes said something that made Derek think maybe she'd go back to Underland one day. And maybe she'd apply what she'd experienced in Beacon Hills(some more than others) there.

"And now I've always been shit at computer games." Hatter giggled when she saw him frown in disapproval before continuing. "And your brother always beats me. And if I lost, I'd go all cross and chuck all the controllers at the T.V. And then you'd laugh at me and be asking me. " Her voice dropped. "If I'm gonna be home next week. And then you'd lie with me 'til I fall asleep and fluttter an eyelash on my cheek between the sheets. And you will never know just how beautiful you are to me. But maybe I'm just in love when you wake me up."

Derek handed Hatter the bowl of fruit and closed his eyes. When she went to sleep, he was gonna have to look up this song. Because the lyrics and their meaning seemed to be all too ironic.

"I think you hate the smell of smoke. You always tryna get me to stop. But you drinkas much as me and I get drunk a lot. So I'll take you to the beach and walk along the sand. And I'll make you a heart pendant with a pebble held in my hand. And I'll carve it like a necklace so the heart falls where your chest is. And now a peice of me is a peice of the beach and it falls just where it needs to be. And rests peacefully. So you just need to breathe to feel my heart against yours now. Against yours now. Cause maybe I'm just in love when you wake me up. Or maybe I'm just in love when you wake me up. Maybe I fell in love when you woke... me up..."

A minute or two passed before Derek realized the song was over. And he was thinking Hatter's own "heart pendant". The song had suggested that the talisman was to be treasured forever. But, based on the ragged look on her face, it seemed more like a curse than a blessing.

"Hatter" he said, quietly.

"Derek."  
"Your dad told you to hold onto your necklace?"  
She nodded solemly.

"But someone else told you to burn it."  
"My mom. She tried but that put a charm on it. I'm the only one that can break it. Break Demetri's main power source."  
"...So why dont you?"

"Because it's the only thing I have left of her."  
He brushed away a tear on her face. "Dont you think she'd want you to finish what she started?"

Hatter sniffled. "I'm scared I'm too late."

"Well, it's still here. And as long as that thing's still humming, he can still hurt a lot of people."

"..."  
"Come on." Derek stood up then scooped her off the ground and placed her on his back.

"Where are we going" she asked as he lead her into the laundry room.

"We are going to make sure that sneaky bastard cant do anything bad to anyone ever again" he said, crouching down so she could climb off. Then he reached into a laundry basket and pulled out a towel. Even through the cloth, it was hot to the touch.

"What if I cant do it" Hatter whispered, placing her hands on the towel.

"Cant hurt to try, can it?"  
"No, I guess not." She inhaled deeply and closed her eyes. A bright red light began to seep through the cloth and illuminate the entire room. Hatter's hair began to defy gravity and resemble an octopus's arms. Her skin glowed and small little cracks sporuted. Derek stared in horror but didnt say anything. She needed all the concentration she needed.

The talisman suddenly burnt right through the towel, leaving a pile of ashes at Derek's feet, and shot into the air. Hatter opened her eyes and stared at the floating jewelry; there was little emotion on her face aside from the brief glimpse of remorse. The humming of the talisman was so loud it seemed like it might be calling someone. And then it stopped. As soon as it started. The talisman turned to the color of embers in molten lava before burning from the inside out. Hatter crumpled to the ground and took a deep breath. Derek rushed to her and lifted her into his lap. She was shaking. "Hatter?"  
"Is it over?"  
He smiled softly and placed a kiss on her forehead. "Yeah. Yeah, it's over now."


	18. In the End(KINDERGARDEN!)

**_You guys should have told me I put up the wrong chap. Sorry about that!_**

_O__ne year later ~_

"I dont want to."

Derek sighed for what seemed the hundreth time and ran a tired hand over his face. "Why not?"  
Hatter turned down the radio and stared at him stubbornly. "I dont need to go to kindergarden. I'm already full of smarts!"  
"You literally just defeated your own argument. And please tell me why you feel that you dont need an education."  
She shrugged. "Peter told me school is for a bunch of morons who dont have anything better to do with their lives and Stiles said its boring."

"What did I tell you about listening to those neandthethals?"  
Hatter groaned and laid her face into the arm rest of the couch. "I'm not going."  
"It's just three hours" Derek offered.

"That's three hours that I'm not with you" came her muffled reply, softening his expression. "And what if the kids are mean? Malia said kids pick on people who are weird."  
"You're not weird."  
"Derek-"  
"Okay, you are, but dont worry about that. And, hey, if anyone says anything about you just tell me."  
She looked up, the stubborn look on her face fading. "And then you'll tell the teacher?"  
"No, and then I'll kick their ass."  
Hatter smiled and sat up a little straighter. But she still looked worried. "I dont think they're gonna like me."  
"So?"  
"If they dont like me, then I'll end up like that creep by the highway that talks to trees and tries to sell people those weird little baggies to people." She gave him a cross look. "Do you want me to talk to trees and sell baggies?"  
Derek gnashed his teeth and thought, _Peter!_ Then he shook his head. "That's not gonna happen, so get it out of your head."

Hatter 's blue eyes drifted up to his. "Why do I have to go?"

Her resolve was weakening, he realized before saying "you cannot spend the rest of your life in this house-"  
"We go to the park sometimes."  
"And dont let me remind you that that's gonna be for a while."  
"Dont let me remind you that you and the pack are Immortal too. I dont see you or them getting a job." **( I imagine Beacon Hill's SuperNaturality having an Immortal effect on anyone who's been in contact with SuperNatural activities.)**  
"That's besides the point. And, just so you know little missy, I'm applying for a job at Deaton's. And Peter, God knows how, got a job at that car dealership. Stiles and Malia work at McDonalds, Scott at Deaton's, Kira's got her little shop, and Liam's at that tatoo parlor. And you know the deal with their parents. So, yeah." He smiled arrogantly. "We all have a job. Except for one little bunny."  
Her shoulders sagged. "But... they're gonna know I'm not getting older."  
"Braeden's gonna be your teacher and Vanessa's got some tips on how to hack the system so you're all set. There's nothing to worry about."

Hatter brought her legs closer to her. "I wont know anyone."  
"Another reason why you need to go. You need some friends your own age." Then he frowned. "Just dont go around saying that shit Peter says. Last thing I need is a bunch of assholes blowing up my phone."  
"...What do I even do there?"  
"Eat."  
"I do that here."  
"Sleep."  
"I do that here."  
"Color."  
"I do that here."  
"Learn."  
"I do that here. Even more than those kids do, sometimes."  
Derek rolled his eyes. "Dont remind me."  
"Derek, there is no good reason for me to go to kindergarden."  
"With everyone either at a job or school, no one's gonna be able to look after you."  
"I did that just fine for a couple months in Underland."  
"But this isnt Underland" he said, wincing at her recollections. "If anyone stops by here and sees that someone's not here with you, then that's gonna bring up a lot fo trouble."

"I thought that was the point of us moving" Hatter pouted. "In case something happens, I'll always 'have good folks to look out for me.'"  
"Under certain circumstances. Listen. You're going to kindergarden."  
"But-"  
"No buts. Look, I know you're nervous. Everyone's nervous on their first day of school. But you cant put it off anymore. I made sure you started when everyone else starts so technically, you wont even be the new girl."  
She sighed and laid her head against his shoulder. "I'm more than nervous. I'm terrified."  
"Hey. Just leave everything up to me. Everything's gonna be fine. I promise."  
"And if it's not."  
He paused, thinking. After a minute passed, he smiled. "Then I'll let you drive Peter's van."  
Her eyes turned green. "REALLY!?"  
"Are you saying you'll go?"  
"Are you saying I can drive the van?"  
"...Yes."  
"Then yes!" Hatter hopped up and started jumping on the couch.

"Have I ever told you about Four Little Monkeys Jumping On the Bed" he questioned.

"Yes, but this is a couch, not a bed."  
"You know how that story ends, right?"

"Oh, relax, I'm not gonna break my head." She leaped in the air one last time before bringing him in for a bear hug. She was smiling but her heart was beating.

And it wasnt from the couch-jumping.

"You'll drop me off, right?"  
Derek returned the hug and nodded. "Why wouldnt I?"  
Hatter smiled softly, eyes yellow. "Just making sure."

. . .

Derek stopped the car and whistled. "There it is."  
Hatter nodded. "There it is."  
"And here you are."  
"And here I am."  
"Now take off your seat belt."  
With shaky hands, she unbuckled her belt.

"Now get out the car."  
She sighed, opened the door, and hopped onto the sidewalk. Every kid had stopped doing what they were doing and stared at her.

"Dont mind them" Derek whispered, as he walked her to the gates. "Remember what I said: be yourself and you'll never go wrong."  
"You dont mean _myself_ myself."  
"Personality wise. Come here." Derek wrapped his arms around her. "I'll see you in three hours."  
She hugged him back and said "Eleven o' clock?"  
"On the dot. I'll be right here."  
"Promise?"  
"I promise." Then, blinking back tears, he ruffled her hair. He had finally convinced her to let him cut it and, with guidance from Lydia, had managed to put it into pigtails. She was sporting the soft yellow dress with flower patterns she'd gotten a long time ago, her favorite converse sneakers with the laces untied, and a Scooby Doo backpack. She hadnt known it, but Derek had slipped Mr. Smalls in there when she wasnt looking. The two had been inseperatble, so he figured i'd be comforting to know he was there with her. In the kangaroo's pouch was a note that said, _whatever happens, I'm still your friend._

"Have fun."  
Taking small steps, Hatter walked through the gates of the small building. Just as she was about to duck and hide into the building, however, a little boy ran up to her. He had curly red hair, green eyes, freckles, a pair of overalls, and a toy dinosaur in his hand. With the enhanced hearing, Derek could make out what they were saying.

"Wanna play?"  
He could see the hesistation. But he also saw the calm, silver eyes(hidden behind the pair of perscription sunglasses Deaton reccomended for public outings). Reculantly, she nodded.

The boy smiled wide and snatched her hand, rushing her into the building. "I'm Roger."  
"...I'm Stony."

Derek smiled and crawled into the van. As he shoved the key into the ignition, he caught sight of Hatter and Roger playing in one of the windows. They were sprawled out across a mat with the states on them, Mr. Smalls in Hatter's hand, the dinosaur's in Roger's. Then, as if knowing, she looked up. She waved the kangaroo around then, excitedly, pointed at Roger. Derek laughed and nodded. Braeden walked in then, along with the other kids, so everyone turned to face her. Except Hatter. She waved at Derek, sadly but with the curiosity of Christopher Columbus, with watery eyes. Derek waved back before pulling off, smiling.

He still had a lot of learning to do. And maybe he'd make a few more mistakes. Hell, he was sure to make a LOT more mistakes. But that was okay. Because everything happened for a reason. Birds sing because they like irratating people who want "just five more minutes". Dogs pee on fire hydrants because they see it as a sign of defiance to "the man." Kids like to play with toys cause they like breaking shit (just cause they're good at it.) And a certain little girl, no longer with a bounty on her head, arrived in Derek's hometown simply because they both needed someone to wake them up.

**Author's Note: DONT SKIP! IMPORTANT INFORMATION FOR STORY SIMILAR, BUT NOT REALLY, TO THIS ONE! It's the last paragraph, if you're that impatient. (not the one with my AWESOME sendoff)**

**Tearing up, tearing up. *Sniff. Sniff* Okay, I'm done.**

**I'd like to thank everyone's who's been with me on this journey, whether you've been here from the very beginning, the middle, or you just got here. Honestly, it was tough and I almost pulled the plug a few times. But I'm glad I didnt. This is one of my dream FanFics(another being a Stissac, so be on the lookout!) so it means a lot that people actually like Shreya, I know this must have been kind of ironic but if I kept going from here, I assure you it would have sucked ass. I thank you guys for putting up with my corny fluffiness, lame jokes, and overall randomness. I thank you who had the curiosity to click on this FanFic and read it. I thank you people for favoriting, following, or reviewing:**

**I am the Eleventh**

**TheMorbidGal**

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**Shreya**

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**Seriously, you guys are awesome. And if you guys like this, I'm about to put up one similar to this. The little girl in this one will be Hatter's cousin. And, according to my friend, since a lot of people hate them and prefer the Justice League(no offense just...ugh), I'm warning you now: it's an Avenger's FanFic. Now before you start, give it a chance. Hell, you made it this far, might as well. MARVEL'S FOREVER! DC sucks ass... My gosh that was so random.**

**Anyway, BYE!**


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